Railroads, Runaways, & Researchers

Abstract

Using observations of railroad employees and two 17-year-old girls who wanted to board a train without proper identification or parental permission, one of the major themes of the First International Congress on Qualitative Inquiry, which raised challenges to the growing practice of defining “good science” as the result of “evidence-based, biomedical models of inquiry,” is considered. Limitations of evidence-based practice (EBP) in dealing with complicated, situated, and practice-based assessment problems are discussed. The qualitative research community ought not to concede the framing of EBP. It should be reframed to focus on practice-based evidence(s) (PBE). Doing so changes the nature of debate, highlights the practitioner role, recognizes practitioner agency in evaluating evidence, focuses on real-world situations (thus embracing complications), and honors the notion of multiple and competing evidence sources. PBE encourages research designs favored by qualitative researchers that explore contextually situated practices and promote valuebased social justice agendas.