Ramzi Nasser, Ed.D.

Kamal Abouchedid, Ph.D.

Presented at "Towards the Global University II: Redefining Excellence in the Third Millennium" International Conference & Exhibition, April 16-20, 2000, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract

Cross-cultural educational research in the United States or Britain has used measures derived from psychological constructs established in Western epistemology in order to make generalizations about the psychosocial behavior of the Western indigenous world. Despite the proliferation of literature on research methods in education, there is a distinct paucity in the literature and academic association agendas in the approach to research from an Arab indigenous context. This paper aims to establish an epistemological research model which fits in well with the ontology of the Arab World as well as with the social and cultural realities of the Arabs. Our proposed model adopts a positivist/naturalist epistemological continuum which aims to aid Arab educational researchers en route to overcoming research constraints in the Arab context. The study further proposes a workable research model upon which researchers on Arab World affairs can base their research methods and methodologies, particularly when dealing with educational issues.

Introduction

There is a distinct paucity of research into the use of research methods corresponding to the social, political, and cultural characteristic features of the Arab World. Also, there is a scantiness of research models capable of dealing with the numerous fieldwork limitations faced by Arab researchers. The possibility of devising educational strategies that integrate Arab culture in all its diversity into a rooted indigenous program rests, partly at least, upon the shaping of a workable research model that springs from the analysis of realities that prevail on the ground. The objective of this paper is twofold: (i) to evaluate the pertinence of cross-cultural research to the Arab context; (ii) to propose an educational research model that arises from and corresponds to the indigenous cultural realities.

The picture presented draws on reviews of theoretical literature as well as on the researchers' personal experiences in conducting fieldwork research in Lebanon.

1. The Nature and Limitations of Research in the Arab World

The last few decades witnessed a proliferation of researches into Arab educational systems, often focusing on education policies and practices, teacher training, curriculum design and evaluation. Despite their abundance, however, the methodology they pursued was incongruent with the social, political, and cultural realities of the native Arab. Today, in the Arab World, research is challenged by numerous limitations including, among other things, social and political resistance to disclosing information, lack of opinion formation, inaccessibility to important population elements, demographic dislocation, and poor urban and rural mapping. Moreover, given the war conditions in many Arab countries (e.g., Lebanon, Sudan, and Iraq) the collection of data is even more difficult than it is in other Arab countries. These obstacles render the administration of field studies technically difficult to implement, and palpably hazardous to Arab researchers (Khashan, 1992). From another perspective, educational researchers in the Arab World tend to employ Western epistemologies and cross-cultural research models incongruent with Arab realities. Perhaps, to overcome these limitations one needs to approach research in the Arab World from the context of the native Arab. In so doing, a review of the main epistemological assumptions connected with educational research in general will be provided, the rationale of which is to prepare the ground for further discussions on the appropriate use of research methodologies and suitable operational fieldwork measures needed for understanding educational issues in Arab contexts.

2. The Framework of Cross-cultural Research

A framework for cross-cultural work suggests the emic and etic conceptions of research. The emic approach uses concepts that emerge from within the particular culture as units used for investigation where as the etic perspective evaluates the phenomena external to the culture with the purpose of identifying and comparing similar phenomena cross-culturally. It could be that tribal affiliation among Southern Arabs completely differs from that of sedentary tribes in the Indian subcontinent. The differences of the phenomena are isolated and pinned through the tools of observation that both cultures use. Any alteration in the measurement or technique of the target culture will have to be reflected in the source. Triandis (1989) warns against the use of what is called "pseudoetic" research which involves the capsulation of cultural forms and content of research through methods and anthropological tool kits of a completely differentiated source culture. Direct use of techniques or anthropological methods that are mediated by source culture do not ensure the preservation of constructs as conceptualized in the source and if such construct in the target culture could exist they would be susceptible to change by cross-cultural comparisons.

In the above paragraph, we used the words source and target culture as they are often misconceived in that the source is made in reference to "us". As Western social scientists attempt to write about cross-cultural types of research, the word native is also charted as to refer to the subject or individual in the target culture. Because of this asymmetry in conception one will rarely come across readings of cross-cultural research that identify the Western as being the target unit of measure and the source of a non-Western unit. While conditions for comparative research are carried out by ethnocentric approaches to research, the deeper colonialist biases on the natives are rarely acknowledged but the methods employed often reveal the impositions of Western constructs on local research. As much as comparative cross-cultural or comparative research is used to compare certain attributes or characteristics of a certain system, it misses the fundamental comparative method that is used. Further, do comparative approaches offer solutions to research problems in the Developing World? Are they mere comparisons of systems, which often value one system over another, or mere description and categorization of particular situations?

In order to answer the above questions we provide a perspective of what is cross-cultural research. Most cross-cultural types of research have been carried out by Western epistemologies rooted in the Western Hellenic cultures and steeped in largely secular, democratic, and industrial societies. The setting and context of society have helped the West to develop its technological edge that overlooked sensitive issues of race, ethnicity, or nationality and held the ideal model of human science as the way to study characteristics and phenomena in cross-cultural experience. Historically, research has developed from earlier work with identification and description to the more complex endeavor to explain and predict behaviors. However, the work has not been easy because of existing societal differences between different countries that lead to different intentions, pretensions, or even judgments from one culture to another. For instance, as Palestinians may see their homeland plundered and occupied by Israelis, Israelis, in turn, may see the Palestinians coveting "their" Biblically claimed homeland. Thus, different histories of different cultures often draw different pictures for research to contour or follow through. Research as a science whether cross-culture or within culture is couched with value judgment and is not free of biases that often spring from heritage and the rigidities of scientific expeditions. 

Undoubtedly, the field of cross-cultural studies contains considerable potential in understanding institutional and other cultural changes for the arena of interdisciplinary collaboration. Research across nations, however, faces substantial challenges. These challenges impose difficulties on local researchers since concepts are often derived from the perspective of the "other". If cross-cultural researchers attempt to study structures within a society they draw it upon many disciplines in which the social context is made up of several overlapping sectors whether it is in the economy, in the ideology, or in the socio-behavioral structure. These discourses could be objectively measured by their production and consumption and this is probably more noted in the West. Cross-cultural studies are difficult for the Third World researchers or educators because they stand as emulators who follow certain methodological recipes often written for the taste and flavor of the "other."  This comparative disadvantage offers little for researchers who may want to study their own cultural and social realities.

Is there a convergence of research methodologies of two distinct cultures? We know that in science in general one is tied to theoretical and measurable ways of research. In the social sciences, however, one can get away from countable and measurable things especially when one attempts to do an idiotic thing such as to measure feelings or values and compare them cross-culturally. As social scientists may believe that individual differences exist in every society even in the most homogeneous ones, we could measure them and have them also stand against some standards that one culture sets. One could always compare the prevalent "school situation in country (A) with the school situation in country (B)," and one could also recognize that "gender differences in country (A) have different connotations in country (B)."  But here the concern rests with the variations in cultural points which appear among researchers. We think that comparative research should have partners and consensus on its key issues to be studied although with its sheer concept and cultural diversity. Alas, such a gap-bridging framework does not exist among Western and Arab indigenous cultures.  

Margaret Mead suggested a universal way to look at societies in terms of their cooperativeness, degree of competitiveness, and degree of individualism (cited in Cohen and Manion, 1994). These dimensions can be studied and the relationship between them can be pinned down. However, in many countries one dimension might be strongly related to another, while in another country it might be poorly related. For example, in the United States, the socio-demographic variable of race appears to have a powerful predictive impact on the political values of multi-racial or plural America. By contrast, the independent measure of race cannot predict attitudinal differences in Arab contexts since Arab countries are divided along confessional lines rather than on racial ones. Furthermore, some extraneous independent variables in one nation may alter the variation of one of the dimensions (dependent variables) used in a study in another country and could bombshell the whole cross-study attempt. In effect, the independent measures of culture, ethnicity, nation, and religious affiliation could alter the interaction effects among the different constructs used in the study. In trying out the effects within system relationship and introducing other justifiable factors alternate the theoretical presumptions and hypothesis. If this process is extenuated to exhaust all possibilities of factors (which is impossible from a statistical standpoint), this exercise is no more a case of cross-cultural study but a research inquiry which is carried out by the side which incepted it. In this context, the salient feature of cross-cultural comparison lies in the development of research ideas that can be empirically examined by cross-cultural standardized research methods. If we look at an Arab tribe through the lens of a Western "periscope", we think of it as an incomplete appreciation of the complexities and characteristics of inter and intra tribal social dynamics. The inclusion of Arab scholars as well as Indian or aboriginal Australian researchers in an anthropological-sociological-psychological team is useful for the augmentation of the validity and reliability of cross-cultural comparisons since the team consists of actors rather than observers who live the day to day concerns, peculiarities, and complexities of tribal behavior. Ideally speaking, this can be the case for a standard social research; however, ideals do not necessarily lead to practice. The focus of any research practice rests with the researcher who is supposed to offer us the research model and to bring to light its multi-colored and multicultural products (Murphy and Murphy, 1970). The development of any research model cannot take place without theoretical enlightenment.

3. The Role of Theory

Cross-cultural research is difficult to conduct and the application of similar methodologies in different systems is sometimes invalid due to social and cultural differences. However, social scientist may agree that the scientific approach is probably the most objective method in the translation of ideas into observable and tested theoretical properties. A good theory must suggest a new hypothesis which can be tested through the use of certain operational field measures (Christensen, 1997).  The two fundamental structural foundations of science are: (a) logic and (b) observation. The general paradigm of the scientific method maps out the various research steps along six levels of classification: observation, formulation of an idea, hypothesis, testing, validating, and generalizing the findings through feedback. The scientific method helps researchers to validate the appropriateness of the logically expected results according to what has been actually studied. 

Certainly, what people know is a matter of agreement and belief. Part of dealing with the world around us rests with accepting that "things work as they do". We certainly question the color of coffee that we drink whether we are in Massachusetts or in Brazil. Thus, believing in a construction is fundamental to knowledge. The basis of scientific thinking suggests that one can know things through experience. Is there a convergence of Western and Arab epistemologies resulting from different ontological experiences? In fact, the consorting effort by Hellenic- Western cultures centers on man's quest for truth, religion, estates, science, and belief. Galileo shattered the idealist-centered philosophy, which states that the universe evolves around man, and the notion of solar system, galaxy, and million of galaxies also shattered the individual-centered philosophy. The major presuppositions of the scientific method in constructing hypothesis, explanations, and formal theories make efforts in the use of speculation. While Western science has achieved and discovered many truths and dispelled many myths, the Islamic doctrine which nourishes the behavioral structure of many Arab societies, still objects to many Western beliefs which are nourished by the fundamental foundations of the bounded theory of science. For instance, as opposed to Jean Jacques Rousseau's belief in the purity and goodness of the soul that is corrupted only by society and civilization, Islamic teachings point to the duality of human nature. According to the Qura'an, God created man from mud into which He blew His spirit to bring life to it. Thus man is a two-dimensional being; one dimension tends towards mud, lowliness, sedimentation, and stagnation while the other aspires the loftiest imaginable point possible (Mehran, 1990). In addition, while Western philosophy emphasizes economic, political, social, and biological determinism, as evident in the works of John Locke and other Western behaviorists, the Islamic doctrine emphasizes the power of the inner will in human response to external stimuli and selection of appropriate reactions. In the light of the existing cross-cultural value systems is there a unified theory which reconciles cultural differences?

Comparative research attempts to look at the within systems factors that effect the formation of a certain theory so that it can no longer increase further proportion of observed variance explained within each country (Noah, 1973). With the attempts to bring within convergence in comparative research there are attempts also to reduce the difference between systems to the extent that notions of systems is phased out into a unified whole. In effect, the comparative method is both convergent and comprehensive leading to a unified theory. But the crud of the matter is appertaining to the logic of methodology in systems, that research methodologies offer. The traditional model of scientific research, moving from theory to operation and then to observation is limited. This limitation can be overcome by the grounded theory which provides change in praxis from observation to theory, with little interest in theory itself. Choosing an alternative research methodology such as the comparable-case method suggests that the within-system comparison is ideal because it approaches the comparable-case requirements compatibly (Benjamin, 1977). Thus, broadening the understanding of system variations leads to a greater tendency to construct a theory which accounts for the conceptual categories of indigenous people including their own meanings of the world. In the paragraph which follows, we offer a theoretical analysis of the research instruments that might help Arab researchers broaden their conceptual categories as well as their research techniques options, without necessarily tinkering with functional properties of Western epistemology.

4. The Theoretical Background of Research for 21st Century in the Arab World

The presence of so many research approaches in social sciences raises two fundamental questions: Are quantitative research methods more accurate and reliable than qualitative ones? Is one-dimensional analytical approach better than a multi-dimensional one? The difficulty of researchers to answer these questions can be attributed to the fact that the ontological nature in which an inquiry takes place has its own particularistic social and demographic profiles. Each piece of research is largely determined by the interplay between its ontological and epistemological fibers.

In order to propose a research model for 21st century in Arab World, it is important  to discuss the various shifting approaches in the social sciences research methods in order to establish a theoretical framework for the selection of the research instruments to be used by Arab researchers, the rationale of which is based on the fact that no scientific observation cannot proceed without a theory to direct it (Comte cited in Cohen, 1968). A theory tells us what is real and what is not, provides us with a sense of collective identity as well it guides our actions (Skritic, 1991). In addition, "Philosophy of science, and epistemology in general, are essential normative fields, providing evaluations as well as descriptions of methods for achieving knowledge" (Thagard 1988, p.113).

A theoretical distinction between methods and methodology is helpful. Kaplan, Cohen, and Manion distinguish between methods and methodology. On the one hand, methods can be defined as "a range of approaches used in educational research to gather data that are to be used as basis for inference and interpretation, for explanation and prediction" (Cohen and Manion 1989, p.42). Methodology, on the other, can be defined as the nature of inquiry (Skritic, 1991) which aims to describe and analyze these methods, by throwing light on their limitations and clarifying their presuppositions and consequences (Kaplan cited in Cohen and Manion, 1989).

Broadly speaking, inquiry can be placed under three categories: "Reasoning, experience, and research" (Singh 1993, p.76). Reasoning is a basic tool for human quest for truth. It is divided into two types: inductive and deductive. Deductive reasoning is rooted in the Aristotelian concept of syllogistic reasoning. For example: Planets orbit the sun. Earth is a planet. Therefore, earth orbits the sun (Cohen and Manion, 1994). On the other hand, Francis, Bacon (1561-1626) who insisted on proceeding inductively i.e., from the analysis of a number of individual stances to hypothesis and eventually to a conclusion concerning the general case, founded inductive reasoning. His basic assumption was that if one collected data without any preconceived ideas regarding their significance and orientation thus maintaining complete objectivity inherent relationships pertaining to the general conclusion would emerge through direct observation (Singh, 1993).

Traditionally, human beings in their attempt to explore the world around them and explain the origins of certain mysterious phenomena that puzzled them have primarily relied on wisdom, reasoning, and observation. For example, why do we see lightening before hearing thunder? The question why (wisdom), seeing (observation) and hearing (perception) became the main aspects of human inquiry. Wisdom is the most basic and primitive and most fundamental source of knowledge. It is a personal experience Educational research in the Arab World should be conceived out of personal experiences shaped by observation and continuous exposure to many settings that reflect the dimensions of Arab culture whether expressed in schools, universities, and the work place. The early personal experiences of the researchers were not adequate to provide satisfactory answers to many of the questions that came across their mind because human judgment based on common sense, sensory faculties, and personal experience could not form a solid ground for inquiry.

Long ago Aristotle pointed out that the weakness of our sensory apparatus lies in the fact that human senses are deceptive. There is a tendency among researchers to establish more capable and reliable means of inquiry to tackle unanswered questions. This need encouraged scientists to progress from their reliance on sensory instruments in inquiry to more accurate ones as a substitute to the imperfection of our senses. In this respect, Galileo developed two basic instruments for knowledge; namely, "sensory experience and rigorous demonstration" (Giulio 1965, p.51). Galileo's amalgamation of 'sensory experience' with 'rigorous demonstration' of facts was based on a combination of subjective and objective elements in knowledge which formulated the touchstone of science (Skritic, 1991). Research, therefore, can be defined as a combination of experience and reasoning (Mouly, 1987).

Both experience and reasoning attempt to uncover the laws of nature and dispel the myths around them. Why x causes y? The terms of cause and effect became the touchstone of the scientific method.  Descartes and the Scholastics had considered cause and effect as necessary conditions for human inquiry (Siu, 1957). Recently, the notions of  "cause" and "effect" became of limited use and scope in the scientific realm. "A "cause" became a change in an independent variable and an "effect" became a change in a dependent variable" (Skinner 1961, p.23). Such a relation lies in the subject of scientific experimentation.

Scientific experimentation is a vehicle for tracking down the laws of nature as well as their causes and effects. Galileo was the first to combine scientific experimentation with the use of mathematical language to formulate the laws of nature he discovered (Capra, 1982). His scientific means were never separated from observation, measurement, and design (Giulio, 1965). Human inquiry, which descends from experience, observation, to reasoning, was instrumental in sience evolution. Both philosophy and physics were at the center of human inquiry. For two and a half centuries physicists have used a mechanistic view of the world to develop and refine the conceptual framework known as classical physics. They have based their ideas on the mathematical theories of Isaac Newton, the philosopher Rene Descartes, and the scientific methodology advocated by Francis Bacon, and developed them in accordance with the general conception of reality prevalent during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteen centuries. In the realm of philosophy, the Aristotelian paradigm of organic change, which collapsed under the weight of scientific discoveries of the Enlightenment, was replaced by the Newtonian paradigm of mechanical change. As such, the mechanistic view became "the foundation of the modern world: for our cultural, social and political systems; for the natural and social sciences; and for the professions" (Skritic 1991, p.6). As a result of the Enlightenment era and the advent of classical physics, the disciplines of psychology, sociology, economics and other disciplines accepted the mechanistic and reductionist views of Newtonian physics as the correct description of reality and modeled their own theories accordingly.

Traditionally, the paradigmatic underpinnings of the above disciplines can be perceived in the light of two theories, holistic and atomistic. The holistic approach tended to treat societies or social wholes as having characteristics similar to those of organic matter or of organisms. It also stressed what might be called the 'systematic' properties of social wholes (Cohen, 1968). The psychoanalytic school founded by Joseph Breur alongside with the behavioral paradigm established by John B. Watson were patterned after the holistic approach. These two schools were biologically oriented. The atomistic approach however, tended to treat social wholes as having characteristics similar to mechanical objects being made up of identical or replaceable parts that can be assembled in different ways. It stressed the importance of understanding the nature of the individual units to be known as functionalism or structural functionalism. Here, the positivist paradigm can be perceived as a combination of the holistic and atomistic approaches that are patterned after the Newtonian reductionist paradigm. Studies show that the positivist movement was historically associated with the nineteenth-century French philosopher, Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who was the first thinker to coin the term 'positivist philosophy' (Halfpenny, 1982). Halfpenny tackled the theoretical properties of the positivist paradigm from the perspective of Comte who argued that positivism was a theory of history in which improvements in knowledge were both motor of progress and the source of social stability. It is a theory of knowledge according to which the only kind of sound knowledge available to humankind is that of science grounded in observation and unity of science according to which all sciences can be integrated into a single natural system. Having reviewed some of the naturalistic ingredients of positivism, one must avoid the pitfalls of Durkheim who considers positivism as a theory of knowledge in which the natural science of sociology consists of the collection and statistical analysis of quantitative data about society. Statistical analysis alone may not result in the understanding of complex naturalistic phenomenon as is the case of Lebanon without utilizing naturalistic elements of research. Perhaps a more comprehensive view of positivist research was illustrated by Francis Bacon who regarded positivism as a "theory of scientific method according to which science progresses by including laws from observational and experimental evidence" (Halfpenny 1982, p.115). Bacon gave flexibility to positivism by allowing the use of experimental evidence that could take many forms rather than employing a rigorous mathematical reductionist perspective disembodied from the naturalistic inquiry.

The positivist approach which seeks to predict and control social events by searching for regularities and determinate causal relationships (Burrel and Morgan, 1979) may not provide adequate explanations for societal contexts which are characterized by a great deal of openness and unpredictability (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Woods, 1986). To what extent can Arab researchers predict complex patterns of education that are in constant change due to economic, political, cultural, and demographic transformations that take place in the Arab region? Perhaps, Arab researchers need to be selective by employing an eclectic approach in dealing with aspects of research if that is required by the research topic as well as by the political and ecological specifications of the site where it takes place. Similar facts in worldwide settings might have led in the past to evaluate the ability of positivism and the Newtonian reductionism approach to understand complex social phenomena.

Many shifting approaches started to move gradually to a more naturalist view of understanding human nature. This shift was based on the need to adopt more qualitative, naturalistic, and ethnographic type of research in which the setting of learning and teaching are studied in full and ongoing contexts (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983; Iona, 1986; Lincoln and Guba, 1985). The need for a progress with a new paradigm in research was based on the deficiencies of the reductionist view of social reality.

4.1 Objections to the Reductionist View of Social Reality

Behaviorists assert that human beings, like animals, are machines whose activity is limited to conditioned responses to external stimuli (Capra, 1982), and "excludes notions of choice, freedom, individuality, and moral responsibility" (Cohen and Manion 1989, p.23). By the same token, Descartes said: "I consider the human body as a machine. My thought...compares a sick man an ill-made clock with my idea of a healthy man a well-made clock" (Descartes quoted by Capra, 1982, pp. 41-48). The Baconian paradigm illustrates that nature "had to be hounded in her wanderings, bound into service, and made a slave" (Ibid.p.40). Calling nature a she, which has to be demeaned and exploited, represents an example of the influence of the patriarchal attitudes on scientific thought which is a major area for criticism by feminists and those who acknowledge equality among human beings. The positivist paradigmatic overshadowing social sciences evoked strong opposition among naturalists who emphasized the unitary nature of consciousness and perception.

Anti-positivists assume that the social world is essentially relativistic and understandable, but only from the point of view of the individuals directly involved in it. Thus, they reject the notion of the observer as a "valid vantage point for understanding human thought and action" (Skritic 1991, pp. 10-11). Kuhn in his book Structure of Scientific Revolutions, originally published in 1962, concludes that the "works of positivists on axiomatic, reduction, deductive explanation, and formal confirmation theory were often irrelevant to science" (Kuhn 1970 quoted in Thagard 1988, pp. 115-116). Many critics united against the reductionist approach. In psychology, the foremost exponent of functionalism was William James who, in spite of scientific laboratory orientation in psychology, was critical of the atomistic and mechanistic tendencies in psychology (Capra, 1982). Criticism even came from positivists themselves. B.F.Skinner (1963) admitted that human behavior was perhaps the most difficult subject to which the methods of science had ever been applied. Therefore, human social reality cannot be totally predicted and understood through scientific instruments only. Following this presumption, the universe should not be perceived as a mechanistic thing, but as a living organism (Nesfield-Cookson, 1987), and hence to know the living being, man's 'inner' experience cannot be transplanted to the condition of empirical laboratory settings. The existing belief that science is a rational and objective inquiry was challenged. Many questions, particularly in the social sciences and education may not be answered by the scientific inquiry (Singh, 1993). By the same token, following a Freirian and Kierkegaardian doctrine, objectivity should not deny the existence of subjectivity in understanding the relationship between man and the world (Freire, 1983).

The collapse of Newtonian theory expanded into the social sciences, which traditionally emulated the principles of the reductionist, mechanistic Newtonian paradigm. In recent years a substantial body of social scientists (including educational researchers) have rejected the experimental positive approach and the physical sciences model used in the social sciences research (Stainback and Stainback, 1984). They have argued that these principles have little to offer in terms of their relevance to the study of complex social situations and human behavior. Others highlighted the need for qualitative research and analysis of inter-personal structure instead of quantitative experimental design (Singh, 1993). In this respect, Singh quotes Verma and Beard (1981): "The human subject should not be viewed as an ingredient in the research laboratory" (1993, p.85).

While the new physics was developing in the twentieth century, the mechanistic Cartesian world view and the principles of Newtonian physics maintained their strong influence on Western scientific thinking, and even today many Arab scientists still adhere to the mechanistic paradigm, although physicists themselves have gone beyond it. Under the impetus of immense criticism against the positivist reductionist doctrine, and the weakening of the Newtonian physics, the disciplines of psychology, sociology, education and anthropology witnessed a paradigmatic shift to a more humanistic philosophy. This path-breaking movement in research led to the recognition of more qualitative means of research.

5. Paradigm Shift: In quest of a New Research Model

Cohen (1968) distinguishes between the society and the physical world by arguing that in the physical world, there are entities which are composed of the relationship between parts; and it is often said that these entities are more than the mere sum of their parts. This means that the entities have properties which are not found in the parts taken separately, but which are found when the parts are related to each other. But these parts do have characteristics, which exist independently of the entities in which they operate. But with social entities, organizations and families, this is hardly so. These elements constitute structures of relations between elements; but many of the characteristics of these elements are not separated from their participation in the whole. The plausibility of Cohen's theory lies in its embedded amalgamation of different but independent societal entities in which the study of each cannot be separated from the understanding of the other. The thesis regarding the physical world presented by Cohen did not go unchallenged.

We can assert...on the basis of strictly empirical investigations, that the sheer reversal of our prior analytic dissection of the universe by putting the pieces together again, whether in reality or in just our minds, can yield no complete explanation of the behavior of even the most elementary living system. (Weiss quoted in Capra 1982, pp.94-95)   

New discoveries and ways of thinking made the limitations of the Newtonian model more visible and paved the way for scientific revolutions that took place in nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which extended into the realm of social sciences.

In reaction to the Newtonian, positivist, functionalist, atomistic approaches many movements took the form of a resurgence of idealism and romanticism. Their main thesis was based on the proclamation that the human world was quite different from the mechanistic world, being pervaded by meanings which must be studied in ways distinct from those applicable in natural sciences (Outhwaite, 1975). The theoretical dimension of the paradigm shift was manifested in the revolutionary developments in the fields of sciences, humanities, and arts over the last 100 years. Based on these developments in virtually every substantive discipline, physics, chemistry, brain theory, ecology, evolution, mathematics, philosophy, politics, psychology, linguistics, religion and the arts, the direction of paradigm shift in Western civilization moved away from the objectivism of science and mechanical change, toward the subjectivism of cultural change (Schwartz & Ogilvy, 1979).

Many considered the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities as multiple paradigms which coexist in the social sciences (Skritic, 1991). The new paradigm shift from the Newtonian reductionist approach to the naturalistic one extended into the realms of sociology and psychology. As a result, sociology became involved in more qualitative orientations by documenting practical social problems and applying anthropological and ethnographic techniques to modern societies (Halfpenny, 1982). Here one can exemplify the emergence of the school of sociology in Chicago, which employed ethnographic strategies in research alongside with using qualitative research in a humanistic perspective. The humanistic approach looked at human beings as positive and self-actualized beings by shifting from "reality as a machine toward reality as a conscious organism" (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, pp.61-62). This shift is based on knowledge in relation to the particular life circumstances, history, culture and the various patterns of interaction within the school environment including its educational programs, culture, traditions, ideals and cultural achievements, whose understanding cannot be achieved by the employment of fixed and mechanical models of research (Gadamer, 1984).  As a result, the researcher's role has to change from a controller of variables to that of a careful and aware listener, absorber, participator and organizer of data, and able narrator of facts and events (Morgan, 1983).

6. Incorporating of Theoretical Differences in Educational Research in the Arab World

Educational research, having been predominantly influenced by other disciplines discussed earlier such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology, has never been far from the center of quantitative-qualitative methodological controversy. In this respect, educational research has been greatly influenced by three models. Diggory (1994) classifies these models into behavioral, in which education is quantifiable, developmental, which depends on personal theories and explanations referred to as qualitative, and apprenticeship, in which experience is gained through the mechanism of acculturation. In fact, researchers often find that educational research echoes positivist research methods (quantitative) and/or naturalistic ones using (qualitative) methods. For example, Verma and Beard (1981) and Trivers (1978) assume that educational research is similar to the research in natural sciences, seeking generalization (Cited in Singh, 1993). This type of research corresponds to the behavioral model in which quantification is sought. There are others, for example Growin (1972), who are critical of generalization when dealing with human behavior since "educational research for generalization is bound to prove fruitless since human behavior is context dependent" (Quoted in Singh 1993, p.83). Endorsing Diggory's classification of educational research models, Growin's view is in keeping with the developmental model which fosters a qualitative approach in research, whilst Verma and Beard (1981), by establishing a theoretical association between natural science research and educational research, demonstrate a predilection to adopt quantitative research in education.

However, a review of Verma's extensive work in educational research over the last few years suggests that many of the deficiencies in quantitative research in education may be overcome by supplementing them with more qualitative methods of research. To exemplify, Verma, Zec, and Skinner's (1994) book entitled the "The Ethnic Crucible" made an in-depth attempt to study aspects of ethnic relations and education through conducting a series of detailed case studies which integrated a rich body of qualitative and quantitative data such as interviews with students, teachers, Local Educational Authorities (LEA), questionnaires, reviews of policy documents, and other material. We recommend using qualitative research supported by descriptive statistical research suited to settings characterized by complex social phenomenon, which requires qualitative research, such as those of Arab countries.

The proposed integrative approach can be defined as a research methodology which aims to integrate a variety of research methods and create a harmonious interplay between the existing diversified paradigms of human inquiry. It is an eclectic approach, which assembles a range of methodological strategies of research. These have emerged out of the difficult nature of fieldwork in post-war Lebanon rather than as a matter of blindfolded research method emptied of theoretical support and fieldwork epistemological justification.

7. The New Model

So far human inquiry has been classified under reasoning, experience and research. Also, reasoning has been categorized as inductive or deductive. Experience can be either subjective or objective. Moreover, educational research is classified in terms of methods (historical, descriptive and experimental), by the type of data collection (e.g. interviews, questionnaires, and tests), by area of academic discipline (e.g. sociological, psychological, educational etc.), by purpose (Singh, 1993), and by data analysis, i.e. (quantitative and/or qualitative).

7.1 Reasoning

One of the major criticism directed against the Baconean inductive approach came from Hume (1888), who raised skeptical questions of whether inductive reasoning from evidence to more general conclusions could ever be justified (Hume cited in Thagard, 1988). By the same token, Bacon was essentially incorrect in his basic premise that a hypothesis was prejudicial to complete objectivity. An investigation not guided by hypotheses or questions is more likely to result in commotion and confusion than enlightenment (Singh, 1993). Thagard (1988) as Methodological Myths labels inductive and deductive reasoning. He tackles the limitations of each approach. The Baconian inductive approach and the Descartes Aristotelian deductive one are superseded by a combination of both approaches. This amalgamation is rooted in Newtonian Principe which unifies the two trends and develops the methodology upon which natural science has been based ever since (Capra, 1982). Singh (1993, p.79) defines the inductive/deductive paradigm as:

Consisting of forth and back movement in which the investigator first operates inductively from observation to hypotheses, and then deductively from hypotheses to their implications in order to check their validity from the standpoint of comparability with accepted knowledge.

More and more, in his analytical treatment of the nature of society dimension, Ritzer uses a "levels of social analysis", or microscopic-macroscopic distinction. Here, the magnitude of social phenomena is used to

differentiate among metatheoretical positions, ranging from the microscopic level of individual thought and action, interaction and groups, to the macroscopic level of organizations, whole societies and total world systems". (Skritic 1991, p.12)

The interplay between the microscopic-macroscopic sociological levels, which appears to be a component in the complex construction of social reality, serves as an example of the unity between inductive and deductive reasoning. Hence, we propose an inductive/deductive complementary approach which is coined by Verma and Beard as "the modern method of research", or the "scientific method" to be used in Arab contexts. For instance, due to Lebanon's social and political realties, we used the modern method of research in many of our research projects, in which certain hypotheses were formulated prior to the field research (Aristotelian deductive approach) whilst keeping latitude to deal with other hypothesis or hypotheses that might emerge in the course of fieldwork. In a study on gender differences in their selection of academic disciplines, for instance, we used a macro sociological perspective based on Archer's (1979) macroscopic/microscopic criteria in order to construct certain variables to be measured in a micro-sociological setting in Lebanon. The findings generated were integrated into a unitary theoretical framework by replicating findings, matching them or emerging with new ones.

7.2 Experience

Experience is the second issue to be discussed. "Epistemology is the nature of knowledge and ontology is the nature of reality" (Skritic 1991, p.10). Experience can be gained through knowledge, and simultaneously knowledge sharpens ones experience. Once epistemology (knowledge) interacts with ontology (reality), the subjective/objective question surfaces. The notion of objectivity and subjectivity in human inquiry is a debatable issue. Burrel and Morgan (1979, p.7) defined objectivist social science as:

...reflects the attempt to apply the models and methods of the natural sciences of the study of human affairs. It treats the social world as if it were the natural world, adopting a "realist" approach to ontology...backed up by a "positivist" epistemology, relatively "deterministic" views of human nature and the use of "nomothetic" methodologies.

Subjectivists on the other hand, are seen as nominalists in that they assume that social realities are made up of names, concepts and labels that serve the process of describing, understanding, and negotiating the social world (Ibid.).  Educational research has been influenced by the positivism which relied on objectivity for theory construction (Iona, 1986). Objective research is criticized by Skritic (1991) because it is based on the assumption that there is a single reality out there, independent of human appreciation.  Broadly speaking, some might claim that by being subjective, the chances of becoming biased increase. On the other hand, others assume that by choosing to be objective in the first place one has already become subjective and perhaps biased. In this respect, it can be argued that experience has its limitations. Durkheim delineates the limitations of experience by suggesting that it is not possible to gain a sociological objectivity and understanding of social phenomena by simply relating individual practices to average behavior. An explanation which makes no reference to the accepted norms and values lacks depth of social perspective. Its shallowness may lead to a facile subjectivism (Durkheim, 1957). Marx on the other hand, stresses subjectivism against objectivism probably influenced by the resurgence of idealism and romanticism in Germany during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The prominent educator, Paulo Freire, reconciled the subjective/objective gap. 

Freire (1983) criticizes Marxist subjectivity and reproaches the positivist account of objectivity. To him, one cannot conceive of objectivity without subjectivity. Neither can exist without the other, nor can they be dichotomized. Objectivity and subjectivity should be in a constant dialectical relationship. The Freirian concept of dialectical interplay between subjectivity and objectivity gives insights into educational research in the Arab World. For example, experience comes from the researchers' personal exposure to Lebanon's educational system as students and later as educators and researchers. Knowledge comes from learning both formal and informal. The researchers integrated their personal experience with training received at the formal educational level to tackle education issues and problems of research in Arab contexts.

Experience can be seen as a dialectical interplay between subjective and objective bodies of knowledge (epistemology) which attempts to approximate the reality of the situation (ontology) through a methodological path harmonious with deductive/inductive reasoning. Following Mouly's (1987) definition of research as a combination of experience and reasoning, we have combined in much of our research projects the Newtonian and Darwinian paradigm of unity between inductive/deductive reasoning alongside with the Freirian theory of dialectical interplay between objectivity and subjectivity. In other words, Arab educational researchers may combine their personal subjective experiences with the objective scientific measures in order to further validate their research instruments.

7.3 Research Classification

Following Singh's classification of research by discipline, this presentation falls in the scope of educational research. In their work 'What is educational research?' Verma and Beard identify four classifications of educational research: pure or basic research; applied or field research; action research; evaluative research (cited in Singh, 1993). Grof and Wilber categorized the methods of science under quantitative and qualitative. In fact, these methods of science are recommended for Arab researchers with more emphasis on qualitative methods due to the needs and requirements of research in the Arab World.  As mentioned earlier, positivists classify research instruments as: observation (Comte, Bacon, Galileo), experimentation (Bacon, Galileo and Durkheim), quantification of data through statistical analysis (Durkheim) and mathematical language (Galileo). By the same token, research instruments used by the naturalistic paradigm are not very dissimilar from that used in positivist-based research, for example, multiple-case studies.

Though multiple-case studies include ethnographic research,they are not confined to ethnographic strategies and qualitative methods of data collection solely. Questionnaires, observational inventories, and content analysis can provide supplemental quantitative data in an ethnographic research study (Wiersma, 1986). Multiple-case studies are not limited to qualitative methods solely. (Schwartz & Jacobs, 1979; Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Van Maanen, 1988; Dabbs & Faulkner, 1982; cited in Yin, 1994) stressed that case studies should not be confused with qualitative research. Case studies can be based on any mix of quantitative and qualitative evidence. In addition, case studies need not always include direct, detailed observations as a source of evidence. Therefore, case studies use a triangulation of research methods and seek evidence from multifarious resources. Multiple-case studies can be composed of deductive/inductive reasoning, objective/subjective experience, and qualitative/quantitative research methods which, from own personal experiences, can still give research springing from the native Arab a reliable and valid touch.

Conclusion

In this paper we have attempted to discuss issues pertaining to research in the Arab World from an epistemological perspective. Further, we have provided a theoretical model for academics interested in conducting research in the Arab world. Triangulation of research methods including a positivist-naturalist continuum may help educational researchers in the Arab world to attain an independent research path corresponding to their cultural needs and realities.

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