Patterns of theory use in qualitative research in higher education studies in Latin America: a geopolitical interpretation

Abstract

The relationship between theory and qualitative research has been extensively examined in the literature and has emerged as a problematic matter. This debate has been driven forward mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries and has done scant justice to an understanding of these issues in regions of the South. This paper addresses this matter by drawing on a geopolitical perspective. The study here provides an analysis of 24 papers by Latin-American researchers in higher education, as included in the Web of Science between 2006 and 2015. Theories in Latin America are mainly produced in the North and exhibit two patterns: (i) critical perspectives are used to address local problems – ‘epistemic problematization’; and (ii) a nuancing of Northern theories so as to contextualize them – ‘epistemic nuancing’. Suggestions are also made for a new configuration of knowledge production in higher education studies – a model of knowledge from and for the South.

Keywords:

• Theory
• qualitative research
• higher education studies
• geopolitical perspective
• Latin America

Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate the help provided by Carolina Gómez.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The following countries were included in the search: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela

2 By ‘non-empirical papers’, we refer to papers in which no fieldwork was conducted.

3 Where authors did not explicitly state a particular qualitative approach, those papers in which authors indicated a use of qualitative techniques for the production of data such as interviews and focal groups were identified.

4 Archer’s sociological theories offer a dual analytical approach to social phenomena. According to Archer, there is an independence of social structures and agency. However, they operate on different timescales.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Conicyt-Chile, Fondecyt project 1170374. Support from PIA-CONICYT Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence Project FB0003 is also gratefully acknowledged.