A Cartography of the Concept "Experience" in Education Research

• In Event: 16.057 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 16.057-22 - Critical Issues in Qualitative Research Design

Abstract

The study of experience is an often taken-for-granted aim of qualitative educational research. Researchers who seek to understand subjective and other forms of experience without defining what they mean by experience weaken the epistemological coherence of their research design. The purpose of this paper is to argue for a critical awareness of the concepts employed by qualitative researchers and to provide some examples of how the concept “experience” has been variously conceptualized. Seven conceptualizations of experience are offered along with illustrative examples of how these views of experience were integrated or used in educational research. Finally, a map provides a visual of how the different conceptualizations of experience are epistemologically located in relation to one another.

Authors

• Melissa Freeman, University of Georgia

• Jaye Johnson Thiel, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville