Neither Knowledge nor Irony Is Enough: Agent Ontology, Indigenous Philosophy, and a New Realism in Qualitative Research

• In Event: Roundtable Session 112
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring New Methodologies

Abstract

Frustration with a resurgence of naive realism on one hand and the limitations of social theory grounded exclusively in ironism, a search for a new realism has been emerging in educational research on many fronts. This paper examines the application of one particular realist ontology to contemporary methodological challenges in the social sciences, what has recently come to be called an agent ontology. This paper looks at an often overlooked source of writing on agent ontology—Native American and Indigenous studies. This paper will synthesize this work and apply it to social science research practice. Four organizing principles relevant to social science research design will be identified: storytelling, ceremony, the recognition of anomalies, and the significance of place.

Authors

• Jerry L. Rosiek, University of Oregon

• Scott L. Pratt, University of Oregon

• Leilani Sabzalian, University of Oregon