Pragmatism is an American philosophical movement or interpretive framework “holding that truth and value can only be determined by practical application and consequences”(O’Leary, Z., 2007). Pragmatists are concerned with knowledge that is useful and which helps individuals solve practical problems (In Vogt, Paul W.; 2005). A central notion of pragmatism is “that truth is found in ‘what works’ and that truth is relative to the current situation;” or in other words that “truth is not seen as an absolute but a moveable and usable construct for understanding the nature of reality” (McCaslin, M., 2008).
Researchers using this framework will use multiple methods of data collection, techniques, and procedures of research that “best meet their needs and purposes” and that best address their research questions (Creswell, 2013). Creswell notes, for example, that this framework is used when researchers doing case study or ethnography use both qualitative and quantitative (i.e. surveys) data collection (p.29).
Creswell, John W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five
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McCaslin, M. (2008). Pragmatism. In Lisa M. Given (Ed). The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative
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O’Leary, Z. (2007). Pragmatism. In the Social Science Jargon Buster. (pp. 207-209). SAGE
Publications Ltd. Doi: 10.4135/9780857020147.n103
Pragmatism. (2005). In W. Paul Vogt (Ed.), Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology.
(3rd ed., p. 244). SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412983907.n1482