May I See Your Warrant, Please?: Justifying Outcomes in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Despite both resistance from the dominant orthodoxy and complications caused by the competing claims of new paradigm diversity, there is a pressing need for TESOL researchers to engage productively with the richness of intellectual opportunity currently available in the human sciences There are three possible avenues of growth to extend conventional research parameters, to align one's work with a recognized radical alternative, to develop an individual stance Any effective response must address questions of position (the research tradition in terms of which one wishes to be evaluated), voice (in terms of who is given space to speak) and representation (the form of discourse chosen) Taken together, these form the basis of legitimization (in terms of disputable argument) and authentication (in terms of contextualized credibility) They are, therefore, fundamental to the provision of adequate warrant for the research in which TESOL needs to be involved This question of what constitutes a warrant is the central issue