Critical Realism and Empirical Research Methods in Education

In the light of recent writings of Richard Pring, and in relation to the application of empirical research methods in education, this paper offers a corrective to a neo-realist viewpoint and develops a critical realist perspective. The argument is made that the deployment of empirical research methods needs to be underpinned by a meta-theory embracing epistemological and ontological elements; that this meta-theory does not commit one to the view that absolute knowledge of the social world is possible; and that critical realism is the most appropriate meta-theory to underpin the use of empirical research methods. Further to this, unhelpful dualisms between quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and between structure and agency, are discussed in relation to neo-realist and critical realist perspectives

Resolving the Quantitative-Qualitative Dilemma: A Critical Realist Approach

The philosophical issues underpinning the quantitative–qualitative divide in educational research are examined. Three types of argument which support a resolution are considered: pragmatism, false duality and warranty through triangulation. In addition a number of proposed strategies—alignment, sequencing, translation and triangulation—are critically assessed. The article concludes by suggesting that many of these ways of reconciling quantitative and qualitative methods and approaches are still deficient in relation to the development of an overarching and correct view of ontological and epistemological matters, and that critical realism offers a more coherent solution, where the reconciliation occurs at the ontological level

Saying NO To the Mega Prison

This activist contribution draws upon the issues emphasised by abolitionist activists in their struggles throughout 2017 (and before) to challenge government plans to build six new mega prisons in England and Wales by 2020. This activist contribution focuses specifically on the arguments utilised by campaigners in one of the proposed sites for a new mega prison: Bickershaw, Wigan, Greater Manchester

New Labour, New Legitimacy? The ‘making punishment work’ agenda and the limits of penal reform

In this paper I consider the thorny question of whether the policies and penal reforms undertaken by the New Labour government in the last ten years have made the penal system more legitimate. Penal legitimacy has always been important, but in a time when the massive growth in prisoner populations shows no signs of abating, questions of the validity of the penal institution itself become ever more pressing. To answer this question requires first a definition of what we mean by the term legitimacy. I understand penal legitimacy to exist when the application and distribution of the ways and means of dealing with wrongdoers successfully attain both political validity and a sense of moral rightfulness (Scott, 2006, 2007a). This dictates that there are both political and moral dimensions to considerations of an appropriate response to dealing with wrongdoers, and the current way of achieving this through punishments in the criminal justice system. For a number of liberal penologists penal legitimacy is intimately tied to prisons and the criminal justice system conforming to public opinion, meeting certain practitioner expectations, fulfilling given administrative goals and targets, or meeting certain ends such as crime reduction, public protection or the rehabilitation offenders (Sparks et al., 1996). By contrast, radical penal activists and [neo] abolitionists have looked beyond the criminal justice system when thinking about legitimacy, pointing to wider concerns about the moral and political limitations of the power to punish, ultimately raising concerns about who we punish, why, and even if we should punish at all (Fitzgerald & Sim, 1979; Hudson, 2003; Scott, 2006). In this paper I highlight the inherent limitations of recent penal reforms by ‘New Labour’ since 1997 and point tenuously towards new directions and alternative visions for thinking about responding to wrongdoers rooted in the principles of accountability, democracy, human rights, and social justice

Book Review: Risking Christ for Christ\u27s Sake

A review of Risking Christ for Christ\u27s Sake: Towards an Ecumenical Theology of Pluralism by M.M. Thomas

Book Review: River of Compassion: A Christian Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita

A review of River of Compassion: A Christian Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by Bede Griffiths

Book Review: Inter-Faith Dialogue and World Community

A review of Inter-Faith Dialogue and World Community edited by Ch. Sreenivasa Rao

Purification of TrkA intracellular domain and the characterization of novel intracellular proteins : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Molecular Biology at Massey University

Nerve growth factor (NGF) binds to its receptor, TrkA, at the tips of nerve cell axons to inhibit apoptosis, causing survival and differentiation. Some factors within this process are largely unknown, such as the role of the p75 receptor and the molecular mechanisms that occur within the cell. NGF binding causes dimerization of TrkA, which activates the intracellular kinase domain. Autophosphorylation on tyrosine residues stimulates binding to the receptor of several intracellular proteins that mediate the NGF response. This receptor complex has been demonstrated to be retrogradely transported to the cell body. Retrograde transport is hypothesized to occur in small vesicles that have been isolated in our lab using a cell fractionation protocol using in vitro reactions with an ATP regenerating system. Discovering the initial molecular interactions that occur upon NGF binding could further our knowledge of NGF's inhibition of apoptosis, providing us with a possible tool for treatment of diseases that occur when the regulation of apoptosis no longer exists. Novel proteins that were not previously identified were associated with TrkA in small vesicles after NGF activation. To isolate these proteins for further characterization, TrkA's intracellular domain (TrkAID) was expressed in E. Coli. This protein was found to be constitutively tyrosine-phosphorylated and therefore presumably active. In E.Coli, TrkAID protein was localized to the soluble fraction but smaller amounts were detected in the insoluble fraction. TrkAID was partially purified from the soluble fraction using a combination of salt disruption and denaturing techniques. The unpurified TrkAID was immunoprecipitated from the bacterial soluble fraction with an antibody to the C-terminus of TrkA, and some results suggest that immunoprecipitated TrkAID was able to stimulate ERK activation in untreated PC12 cells, but unfortunately this was not reproducible. If the protein could be purified with a combination of techniques, then it would provide a useful tool for studying the initial events in NGF stimulation, that is, the recruitment of several intracellular proteins to the tyrosine-phosphorylated intracellular domain of TrkA