Use of Experts in Scholarly Research Dissertation

Use of Experts in Scholarly Research - Dissertation Example There is a need to integrate the two models to incorporate the advantages of each on order to reach harmony among the scholars regarding expert involvement in epistemology. This paper aims to propose such a model. It starts by presenting a literature review and analysis, followed by a detailed discussion of the most important approaches to the field of study and research, and ends by presenting a framework that aims to corroborate the established schools of thought about instruction and the role of experts as guides for research. Literature Review: The study and analysis of the currently available literature on the subject is important in order to ascertain the extent of progress in the pertinent field and the frequency of research conducted. Such research is important to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the issue under discussion, that is, the use of experts in the field of scholarly research. This literature review would be divided into two parts: the synthesis of the available information on the subject, followed by a scholarly analysis of the literature, discussing the shortcomings of the available material regarding the subject. Synthesis: the literature discusses the role of experts in research under two distinct models; the traditional method of expert instruction, and the more recent method of constructivism (Murphy, 1997). A most comprehensive study made on the subject is by far the article ‘Towards Expert Knowledge?’ by Paivi Tynjala, published in the International Journal of Educational Research in 1999. In this article, Tynjala makes a comparison between the traditional instructional set up and the more recent advent of constructivist education. The article starts by describing the established model of learning across the majority of institutes, analyzing its characteristics and presenting the issues that arise from the practice of that traditional system in the present day evolved framework of academia. it deconstructs the issue into its constituents, discussing each component separately, such as the ontology of expertise, the epistemology of gaining expertise, the methodology involved, and the shortcomings of that methodology. It presents as a solution the pure form of constructivist model, demanding a sheer shift from one system to the other and submitting that such a drastic changeover is the only method of catering to the changing needs of the field. It does not present any model for integration of the two systems, rather simply advocates const ructivism. Another extensive research on the topic comes from Kimberly A. Galt, in his work ‘Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches to research and inquiry’ (2008). The discussion starts by defining the different approaches to learning, such as epistemology, ontology, and methodology, and then progresses to the detailed discussion of each, focusing the most on methodology. It includes detailed analysis of the different types of methodology, like quantitative, qualitative, and mixed, listing the characteristics of each and set ups in which each could be adequately used. This study does not aim at upholding a certain system, but leaves the conclusion to be drawn by the researcher as to which methodology of epistemology suits his mind frame. There are very few other such open-ended studies available on the subject. Helen Gosse, Holly Gunn, and Leon Swinkels, in their article