Publisher: Review of Educational Research, 68 (4)
Page Numbers: 389-397

This paper discusses what is distinctive and valuable about interpretive scholarship: (1) the power to reveal something surprising, startling, or new; (2) its commitment to the idea that a difference in views arises from the way people learn to think about and work on things in the socially and culturally organized context of their lives; and (3) the commitment to use research findings to improve communication and understanding across human groups.