Thanks to Robin for the bare-chested assessment of his situation
regarding research. Anyone who is inclined toward a constructivist
position must undergo that kind of soul-searching!!!!
Perusal of the work of the social constructionists quickly gives
indication that many of them have gone through the same kinds of
ruminations.... One can end up feeling rather rudderless, because we
come down to the same kind of issue that scholars have faced over
thousands of years -- "Yes, our propositions represent our
constructions, derived from the context in which we work -- including
our personal construct systems. And, yes, we do want to convince others
that our constructions have some kind of utility. But, how do we do it,
if we realize that even our demonstrative methodologies represent
socially valid systems of demonstrating the validity of our
propositions."
I must say, that after all these years of involvement with PCP, I
never uncovered the paper by Don Bannister to which Robin refers. I
will look for it on my next trip to the library.
Jim
Mancuso
--
James C. Mancuso Dept. of Psychology
15 Oakwood Place University at Albany
Delmar, NY 12054 1400 Washington Ave.
Tel: (518)439-4416 Albany, NY 12222
Mailto:mancusoj@capitalnet
http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/soi
A website related to Italian-American Affairs
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