Some problems in recent sociology of education, such as those associated with epistemological and cultural relativism, are traced to foundationalisl and dualist epistemologies. These problems are avoided by a materialist epistemology which is holist, rejecting the idea of foundations for knowledge, and monist in asserting but one kind of object of knowledge—the physical. Recent interpretivist and marxist views are unable to specify grounds for rational theory-comparison, e.g. with positivism. The proposed epistemology, materialist pragmatism, includes a methodology, based on “touchstone theory”, enabling rational debate and avoiding a vicious relativism. Once we reject the material/non-material and related dualisms (especially natural science/social science) it can be argued that qualitative research methods, such as ethnography, are epistemologically more basic than quantitative methods.
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