Abstract
Application of the scientific method to research in speech pathology may be less than adequate to meet the needs of the discipline. Speech pathology has failed to develop the core concepts or paradigms which inform the ‘hard' sciences, perhaps as a consequence of the unsuitability of experimental research approaches. Qualitative approaches to research allow for a more flexible and comprehensive method of investigation in clinical or research work and are employed by many other disciplines such as sociology and anthropology where the concern of the researcher is to investigate a complex, dynamic social setting or situation. An alteration to research orientation in speech pathology may provide clinicians and researchers with more appropriate and beneficial methodology.
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