Understanding commissioned research and scholarship in education: do paradigms matter?

The place and challenges of identifying and working with paradigms in the context of commissioned research are addressed in this chapter. The characteristics of commissioned research activities are discussed and considered by drawing on Boyer's view of scholarship as discovery, integration, application, teaching, and engagement. The role of Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents in commissioned research is explored using a conceptual continuum from looser to tighter specification of parameters as an analytical frame. Consequences for the selection of a research paradigm are considered in the context of multiple realities of the researcher and the commissioning body. The chapter concludes with an imperative: Communication to develop understanding of each other's perspectives needs to be better recognized for its value to all parties in meeting their intended purpose in engaging in a commissioned research undertaking