Oxford University Press and Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) has launched the book Perils, Pitfalls and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research in Education edited by Fauzia Shamim and Rashida Qureshi. Speaking at the book launching ceremony Managing Director Oxford University Press Ameena Saiyid said the book goes beyond the usual dry, statistical route to provide a subjective and very insightful view in educational research.
She said the book shows how cultural realities are different in different societies, and researchers and teachers need to take them into account and adapt their research methods accordingly. This collection of papers presents the experiences of educational researchers working within the qualitative paradigm in countries in the South. Reflexivity is at the heart of these accounts.
As methodologies and ethnic issues are faced in collecting date and representation of research participants in different socio-cultural settings and research environments, reflexivity is used as a tool for achieving validity and an ethnical stance that strikes a delicate balance between local norms and global ethnical guidelines. The volume makes a call for rethinking methodologies and ethnical, which seem to be taken for granted in the more developed countries in the North.
Associate Professor Department of Community Health Sciences Aga Khan University Kausar S Khan, Director Pakistan Study Centre University of Karachi Professor Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Director Institute for Educational Development IED-PDC Aga Khan University Professor Dr Muhammad Memon were the speakers at the book launching ceremony, which was held as a part of the activities of the ongoing SPELT Conference.