This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Staller, K. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Railroads, Runaways, & Researchers

Returning Evidence Rhetoric to Its Practice Base

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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.

Key Words: evidence-based practice • runaway youth • practice-based evidences

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?