Research on adult education in the face of methodological breakthrough

Abstract

Methodological choices are constrained by both the ideal of scientific knowledge in the social sciences and the evolution of the axiological basis of educational practices. To ensure that research findings in adult education hold social utility value, researchers must adhere to this axiology. Given these factors, the author postulates that post-1989 research in adult education will shift towards an interpretative paradigm. He justifies this by referring to four levels of methodology: ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological from the point of view of nominalist conception, which stands in contrast to ontological realism. However, the projected direction of change does not invalidate the use of the structural-functional paradigm, since educational authorities expect scientifically based claims that optimise the educational reality. The point is that the emerging new world of adult education should not be examined exclusively with old methodological tools.