Research in Post-Compulsory Education

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The process of empirical research: a learning

experience?

Tilda Gaskell

To cite this article: Tilda Gaskell (2000) The process of empirical research: a
learning experience?, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 5:3, 349-360, DOI:
10.1080/13596740000200084

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Research in Post-Compulsory Education, Volume 5, Number 3, 2000

The Process of
Empirical Research:
a learning experience?
TILDA GASKELL
University of Dundee, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT This article will consider the impact of empirical research on research
subjects taking part in a study of older learners. The research described relates to work
in progress; a pilot study was completed in 1998 and field work for the main study is
now taking place. The research considers the effect of context on the process and
experience of learning amongst older people. Participants have been asked to reflect on
their role in the learning transaction and their understanding of, and feelings about
education and learning. The methodology encourages participants to engage with the
research and through this involvement it is suggested that participants have developed
their thinking and have contributed to the debate about the meaning of learning in later
life.

Introduction
Empirical research methods derive from the application of observation and
experience to a research question rather than being grounded in theory alone.
Methods associated with empirical research thus tend to be qualitative in nature
as experience and observation are, of necessity, situated in the consciousness of
the researcher and the research subjects and are unique to the moment and to
the individual. In social research qualitative methods provide rich sources of
information which in many cases suggest new lines of enquiry as the research
subjects provide the researcher with unexpected perspectives on the research
questions. Communicative research methods such as in depth interviews are
central to qualitative research, however, so that a balance may be struck
between objective and subjective data it is judicious to employ additional
methods (Kellaher et al, 1990; Kaufman, 1994).
Kaufman (1994, p. 127) suggests that the in-depth interview performs a
number of functions in relation to the research and the research subject. She
notes that whilst providing both ethnographic and biographic information the

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in depth interview may also act therapeutically as the interviewee ‘expresses

problems and concerns and in an attempt to come to terms with them’. In
addition the interview may also represent an informal social exchange in which
the researcher and research subject are able to enter into a reciprocal
relationship. In the context of educational research it may be that the
therapeutic function could be represented as a learning, or educational function
as participants express their feelings about past and present experiences of
learning and endeavour to come to terms with sometimes painful memories and
insights. Through doing so the interviewee may gain valuable insights into their
own learning styles and preferences and by articulating these may develop
greater control over their own learning. Interviewees may also gain a greater
understanding of the teaching and learning transaction and their role within it.
The interviewee and the researcher work with these in response to the research
questions as ‘co-investigators’ (Friere, 1972). The ethnographic and biographic
functions build on this by providing a social and cultural background within the
narrative structure of the interviewee’s life. The in depth interview can thus be
seen as a model of Friere’s theory of thematic investigation in which people
‘seek out reality together’ (Frieire, 1972, p. 80).
The current study aims to develop an understanding of the meaning of
learning for older people and the extent to which age, previous experience and
the learning context affect meaning.

Method
Research into learning frequently becomes in itself a learning experience for the
subjects as well as for the researcher and the process of empirical research
encourages subjects to reflect on their role within a given situation. This is
especially so if the methodology is designed to engage the subjects directly in
the research and in developing the research questions. Qualitative research
methods aim to develop an understanding of the research problem based on the
ordinary experience of people and the worlds they inhabit (Sankar & Gubrium,
1994). As a method the in-depth interview allows the researcher to gather data
relating to particular conceptual issues which ‘speak the experience of the
informant’ who is fully involved in the research process (Kaufman, 1994,
p. 125). Cusack working on empowerment, suggests that this process of
involvement which is part of a ‘rigorous search for common understanding’
which must be based on equality (Cusack, 1998, p. 53). Clearly in studies of
this type the researcher herself is part of the dialogue and this must be taken
into account in seeking to analyse the data. The researcher’s personality, age
and gender, as well as the subject matter under discussion, will all have an
influence on the interaction (Kaufman, 1994). As noted above the use of more
than one method of enquiry may be employed to provide a counterbalance to
the subjective interpretation of data. As the research progresses it is important
that the findings should be subjected to continuous analysis in order that the
research questions may be refined and focused in response to actual rather than

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theoretical imperatives. In the current study it was considered valuable to

develop a critical analysis which could take account of the dynamic experience
of the process of learning in relation to previous as well as contemporary
experience. It was felt that this could best be achieved by using multiple
research instruments in a triangulated methodology using five research
instruments to provide a series of perspectives which includes both objective
and subjective analysis. The chosen instruments include a questionnaire using
both open and closed questions, semi-structured in depth interviews, semi-
structured focus groups, non-participant observation and analysis of
documentary evidence.
The research is taking place in an East of Scotland city and the
surrounding rural district. As noted above the study seeks to discover what
effect context has on the process and experience of learning amongst older
learners, and in this way to develop an understanding of the meaning that
learning has for older people. The contexts include formal adult education
classes provided by an institution, self help (peer learning) groups, distance
learning (which is also a formal context) and non-participation in group
learning. The chosen contexts thus take account of the learning of people who
are not attracted by traditional forms of adult education opportunities and those
for whom group learning is unavailable, inaccessible or not attractive. The
subjects are all over the age of 55, and the oldest subject to date is 96.
Research instruments for the study have been used in a progression
designed to allow the participant’s perspective to be taken into account in
addition to producing an objective analysis of activity within each context. The
chosen method encourages participants to reflect on their role within a given
situation to varying degrees of depth, followed by non-participant observation
and analysis of documentary evidence. Groups were chosen to provide a
representative sample of the four contexts; subjects then self selected by
agreeing to fill in an initial questionnaire. Those who indicated willingness on
the questionnaire were then either interviewed using a semi-structured schedule,
or invited to take part in a semi-structured focus group. The researcher
participated in the interviews and the discussions. The observations and
documentary evidence can then be applied to provide a ‘sharper focus’ for the
findings (Kellaher et al, 1990).

Background
Participation in education is low throughout the adult population especially
amongst older people and more particularly those over the age of 75. Previous
learning and educational experience may influence choice of context for
learning in later life. Earlier studies would suggest, for instance, that previous
experience of success in education predisposes adults to return to, or continue to
take part in formal education throughout adult life; similar correlates are found
between social classes A, B and C1 and participation (Sargant, 1997; Carlton &
Soulsby, 1999). This would suggest that structural inequalities experienced in

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early life predict unequal educational participation throughout life. In addition,

participation in adult education amongst older people is generally lower than
that found amongst younger adults. Less than 10% of older people take part in
classes and courses, in comparison with 24% of adults under the age of 40. If
examples of all events in which a person has ‘consciously chosen to learn
something’ (Carlton & Soulsby, 1999, p. 22) are added to formal education
participation percentages results are still low with just 19% of those aged 65-74
and 15% of those over the age of 75 reporting involvement in conscious
learning either currently or recently; this compares with 43% of those aged 35
to 44 (Sargant, 1997).
In addition to the barriers of class and levels of previous educational
achievement older people may have to contend with other difficulties,
particularly the stereotypical belief that people become less able to learn as they
age. Sargant (1997, p. xi) found that more than one-third (37%) of those aged
65-74 and almost half (48%) of people aged 75 and over say they ‘feel too old,
too ill or too disabled to take up new learning’. James & Coyle (1998) suggest
that a fear of failure as a result of ‘self perceived’ age related memory deficits
may represent the main reason for not taking up learning opportunities, or
engaging in deliberate learning amongst older learners. However, it has been
shown that age-related declines in working memory are neither so great, nor so
disabling as these fears would imply (Cohen, 1996). This would suggest that
the power of stereotypical beliefs lies in their tendency to be internalised by the
group they refer to and in this way to become self-fulfilling and self-
perpetuating.
Stereotypical beliefs about ageing and age-related decline reflect the
dominant values in society and are underpinned by inequitable power relations
and distribution of social and economic resources. Arber & Ginn (1991, p. 35)
argue that stereotypical beliefs convey ‘only partial information ...
communicating a particular set of beliefs [and] an ideological view about the
group’; in the case of older people these beliefs relate to a bio-medical concept
of ageing as a time of progressive decline which affects both body and mind.
This model suggests that older people are less able and less useful than younger
people both economically and socially and this is reflected in policies such as
state sanctioned retirement ages, rationing of medical and other social goods on
grounds of age and the construction of older people as non-productive within
society (Belanger, 1998). As noted above structural inequalities within society
are liable to be self-perpetuating in individual lives, however, the meaning that
individuals assign to their lives and to life events illustrates the ways in which
people deal with social constraints. In older age Kaufman (1986, p. 4 ) suggests
people ‘do not perceive meaning in ageing itself; rather they perceive meaning
in being themselves in old age’. However, meaning is interpreted in the light of
knowledge and perceptions of possibilities and experience, and thus the self-
perpetuating and self-fulfilling nature of stereotypical beliefs are part of the
meaning ascribed to ageing. This has resulted in the widespread belief that

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declines in memory and intellectual ability are age related and inevitable, and
the expectation that after a certain age people are ‘too old to learn’.
Chronological age is in itself a clumsy tool which is not a useful measure
of intellectual, social, physical or emotional capacities and yet it is the most
frequently invoked gauge of expected ability, behaviour or preference. It is also
used to define groups and sets of people (Stirling, 1996). Using age as a
defining characteristic of groups may have some value if the perspective taken is
to consider the experience and profile of cohorts. Cohorts represent populations
grouped in terms of birth date, nationality and/or other defining characteristics.
Cohorts defined by age and nationality share similar longitudinal life experience
and are likely to have comparable knowledge of social and historical events;
within cohorts individuals absorb common sets of values, beliefs and ways of
behaving. In this analysis it will be seen that to discuss the effects of age on the
process and experience of learning it is necessary to be aware not only of age,
but also of the social and historical past relevant to a given cohort.

The Process of Working Together to Find Meaning

In semi-structured interviews the themes of learning, education, knowledge and
wisdom are developed through guided discussion and participants are asked to
provide definitions and to give meaning to these words. In doing so issues
relating to personal experience of learning, education, knowledge and wisdom
become evident and ‘language is seen to play a crucial role in the construction
of reality’ (Phillipson, 1998, p. 25). For many participants there is a clear
separation between meanings associated with education and with learning. A
recent MORI poll of adults in Glasgow showed that whilst only 9% associated
education with enjoyment that over 70% had positive feelings about learning
(Young, 1999). As noted above language is a potent force in the construction of
frameworks of meaning and amongst older people additional meanings may be
attached to terms such as education and learning which resonate with
stereotypical beliefs about diminishing intellectual abilities and education as the
prerogative of youth. It is also relevant that school experience in the inter-war
years and during World War II may have been a short and possibly negative
encounter; of those now aged 60-75 over 60% left school at 15 or younger.
During interviews and in focus groups participants frequently made
remarks to the effect that they had ‘never thought of that before’ as they
attempted to define and explain their understanding of concepts such as
learning and education. In many cases taking part in the research encouraged
reflexive thought through which new insights and perspectives emerged both
within groups and at an individual level. The tendency to reflect varies between
contexts and it would appear that those engaged in formal learning are less
inclined to differentiate the terms education and learning. In almost all cases
people refined their responses and understandings as the interview or discussion
progressed and earlier statements were questioned and challenged by the
interviewer or other participants in group situations. Older individuals, and

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those involved in peer learning were the most reflexive and also most liable to
make clear distinctions between education and learning suggesting, for instance,
that education is ‘to a point forced on you and learning is something you want
to do’ (woman, aged 78, member of peer learning group) and ‘learning is a two-
way process, education you need someone to be telling you’ (man, aged 67,
member of a peer learning group). In contrast a 55-year-old woman in a formal
education group felt they were ‘the same thing really – should all be going on
together’. The experience of exploring themes such as these frequently results in
the development of new insights as participants work with the concepts that lie
behind language and begin to challenge assumptions about apparently common
sense meanings. In the focus group setting the varied experience of participants
increases the tendency to reflect on the meaning of learning and its place in
their lives now and in the past. In discussing changes in teaching methods both
interviewees and focus group participants have tended to extend their
perception of what it is to learn and how learning may be fostered or hindered.
Particularly amongst those now in their 60s there appears to be a strong desire
for learning to take place in a logical and step like manner. In a peer learning
context discussion group comparisons were made between ‘today’s youth’ who,
it was believed, work on a ‘black box’ principle, in which the steps between an
action and an outcome are not important, and the participants own previous
experience and current preference:
we were sort of, I think, geared to do one step at a time, to find out why it
worked or why it was that way, ... whereas now they just do things, and you
say how is it you have to put on channel 9 or whatever; and they say just do it
like – um – it’s still lots of these things are still a mystery, but our generation
wants to know how does it work. (Woman, aged 63, peer learning group
member)
Through articulating this the participant came to understand that her feeling
that young people were ‘superior’ as a result of their familiarity with modern
technology was based on a false premise. She came to feel that what they
actually had was different way of approaching problems rather than inherent
ability and that this approach had its own limitations. This type of insight
challenges the ageist assumptions and stereotypical images of older people as
unable to deal with new concepts and technology which had led this woman to
previously consider young people to be superior. The process by which the
participant developed her understanding itself exemplified her own preferred
learning style as she approached the problem in a step like manner. The theory
of learning popularly known as ‘learn to learn’ works on the premise that
individual learning potential increases as people gain control of their own
learning through developing knowledge of the way that they learn. Tennant
(1997, p. 93) suggests that ‘helping individuals to understand themselves as
learners’ represents an egalitarian approach to learning through which educators
begin to devolve power to the learner through raising awareness of, and
building on personal learning styles rather than concentrating on content or

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comparative achievement. In the context of the research this type of learning is

fostered by the reciprocal nature of the exchange in which researcher and
research subjects are working together on the same question.
In early parts of the interviews and discussion participants frequently
equate learning with knowledge; when, later in the interview or discussion this
is questioned it tends to result in new ways of thinking about knowledge. This
may emerge as conceptualising knowledge as a product of learning, or of
knowledge as static in contrast to the dynamic of learning. Those participants
who were involved in formal adult education, and those who themselves had
been teachers were more likely to continue to conflate learning and knowledge
in much the same way as they had considered learning and education to be
inseparable. An example of this would be the suggestion that learning is
‘something that will improve my bank of knowledge’ and that knowledge is
‘what you’ve learnt’ (woman, aged 72, formal adult education, retired teacher).
In contrast a woman who was not participating in group learning and had not
taken part in formal education since leaving school at the age of 14 (in 1917)
explained, ‘I think learning is ... it’s part of life, you’ve got to learn to make
yourself intelligent, you’ve got to be observant, and if you’re observant the
learning will take care of itself’ whereas knowledge ‘you get knowledge from
education – you study this and you study that – you get a lot of knowledge
from reading and you get a lot of knowledge from listening’ (woman, aged 96,
non-participant in group learning). In a group discussion these types of
difference are brought forward in dialogue as participants work together
towards a mutual understanding. As an example a focus group from the peer
learning context had the following exchange: participant A ‘I think your
knowledge comes through learning and education’; participant B ‘I suppose
knowledge is experience as well’; participant C ‘plus learning’. This short
extract came towards the middle of the discussion and shows the group
working together to develop a common understanding. The value of experience
includes an awareness of how learning takes place and for a number of
interviewees reflection combined with discussion was seen as the key to
learning. The two interviewees quoted above held strong views, and as the
interviews progressed they returned to the idea of learning in relation to
wisdom and specifically in relation experience as an asset It became clear that
learning was central to both their lives, with the 96-year-old continually
emphasising the importance of listening as a key learning skill whilst the 72-
year-old particularly valued the time available for reflection now that she was
retired.
The interviews and focus groups aim to work with language as a way of
finding meaning and frequently themes develop that inspire further reflection
especially on early experience of education. For many participants initial
education has been of very short duration with people leaving as early as age
12, although 14 was more common. This very early leaving pattern tends to be
a result of wartime disruption and therefore mainly affects those who were in
their young teens in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Abiding memories of

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initial education in the inter-war and war years seem to be of boredom and in
some cases fear. Evidently there are exceptions and in the main these are
women, those from the higher social classes and older individuals (75 and
older); several older women said they would have liked to continue their
education beyond school but had had to leave in order to contribute to the
family income, this was especially the case for those over the age of 80. The
focus of the study is the effect of context on the process and experience of
learning and evidence gathered through the interviews and discussions would
tend to suggest that the experience of learning in different contexts may be to
some extent influenced by the expectations of learners. Expectation evidently
also plays a role in the choice of learning context; although some participants
were taking part in learning groups in more than one context. In discussions
and interviews a number of people developed trains of thought about learning
in response to questions about their initial motivation and subsequent
experience of a particular context. In some cases this could be seen to lead the
participant towards an understanding of a previously unclear emotional response
to learning within the context. For instance, a man of 67 had left a distance
learning course because he had been unable to complete a mock exam, which,
he suggested at the beginning of the interview, was the result of age-related
memory deficits. As the interview progressed it became clear that he had not
enjoyed school which had been in the traditional didactic model; he had left at
the age of 15, and joined a distance learning degree course 50 years later after
retirement from a career in sales. He had expected more help from his distance
learning tutors and felt unclear about what was expected of him; the mock exam
had generated feelings of panic which had resulted in his inability to remember
anything. Through speaking about what he considered to be a personal
(although age related) failure this interviewee came to understand his own
learning preferences and how he might pursue his goal of attaining a BA in a
way that suited these preferences. Others had clear views about previous
education and learning but during the interview developed their thinking about
the current learning context. For instance, a 70-year-old man who belonged to
a peer learning group had ‘hated the school ... I was terrified – bullied – the
teachers were bullies – all the time I was at school I was frightened ... couldn’t
get away quick enough and from the day I left I’ve been learning’ (he left at the
age of 13). On joining the police in his twenties he had taken night school and
correspondence courses and passed a number of exams; this had been possible
because he was ‘treated as an adult – not treated as a fool – not being treated as
a child’. Although able to provide this very clear description of the link between
affective response and learning the interviewee had more difficulty in describing
his current experience, however, as the interview progressed he found ways of
doing so which altered the way he thought about the group he belonged to.
This peer learning group was engaged in water colour painting and initially the
interviewee said that this was ‘just a group that’s all into art’ but later qualified
this to explain that they learned more from each other than he could learn from

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the local formal adult education art class; this was as a result of sharing ideas
and constructive peer criticism.
The concept of wisdom produced less discussion than the topics of
learning, education and knowledge. Whilst participants gave it thought they did
not seem to challenge accepted definitions although they fell into two distinct
groups – those who felt that wisdom was a product of age and those who felt
that it was innate. This may reflect the way in which wisdom has been
objectified as outwith individual control.
As the research has progressed it has become evident that the experience
of taking part in the research has an intrinsic value for participants that extends
beyond the interview. In many cases interviewees make comments at the end of
the interview such as ‘I’ll have to go away and think about that’. In later
interviews participants have been asked directly about their feelings regarding
the research process. Answers have shown the extent to which people were
involved emotionally as well as cognitively as old memories surfaced which
were then re-examined in the light of experience. In some cases people had
begun this process of reflection before the interview; for example a distance
learner aged 64 gave the researcher a table of his entire education since the age
of 5, which he had made as a result of thinking about learning and education
after filling in the questionnaire and prior to the interview. He had been quite
surprised by seeing the pattern of his learning in this way. The table also raised
questions about changes to his definitions of education and learning; during the
interview he mentioned various evening classes he had been to such as
calligraphy which had been omitted from the table as he had not considered
them to be relevant. When asked about this he said ‘there’s no comparison ....
no goal to aim for – you just scribble about’; in discussion it became clear that
this concept of having something to aim for was more to do with his perception
of education than his own learning style which was inventive and creative ‘I
always like get as many slants on things as possible’. Several interviewees had
gathered together collections of biographical documents such as pictures,
certificates and learning materials. The interview process had made people think
about things they ‘maybe hadn’t thought about for a long time’ (woman, aged
65, distance learner); ‘it sort of nudges things to the surface’ (woman, aged 68,
distance learner). Other interviewees have commented later that ‘it did me a lot
of good to think about things seriously’ and had made her want to get back to
reading ‘proper books not just trash’ (woman aged 74, non-participant in group
learning). For many people recalling past events and perhaps particularly events
associated with learning was an emotional experience and the interview process
closely mirrored Kaufman’s (1994, p. 127) definition of the therapeutic function
as ‘the expression of problems and concerns and an attempt to come to terms
with them’ and several interviewees have made comments such as ‘I’ve never
told anybody about that before’ (woman, aged 68, distance learner). As in the
therapeutic context there is a danger that simply raising issues to the surface
may be a negative experience; it is part of the reciprocal nature of the
relationship built up through the research process that the researcher should be

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aware of this and should take the time to work with the interviewee towards a
resolution or at least to a point from which the person feels able to move on.

The Research Process as a Learning Experience

Williamson (1998, p. 197) suggests that ‘learning cannot be separated from the
sociological and ideological conditions in which it takes place’ and in seeking
to understand the influence of context on learning the research takes this into
account. However, it has also become clear during the study that reflexive
learning may be developed through participation in the research process.
Participants in the study are invited at the outset to contribute to the research as
active partners and it is made clear that their contributions will help define the
progress of the study as well as informing the final outcome. This way of
experiencing the research interview corresponds to Williamson’s definition of
dialogue as ‘more than conversation and the simple exchange of information. It
is a commitment to arrive at an agreed understanding of something’; thus the
concept of dialogue becomes a paradigm for the research process. Through
engaging in the research dialogue participants and researcher are equal partners
working together to develop a critical understanding of the learning process in
a variety of contexts.
Cusack (1999, p. 31) suggests that education for older people has the
potential to be emancipatory, but that this will only occur if the intention and
provision of such education is structured to engage older people as equal
partners in a programme that challenges ‘the negative assumptions people have
about ageing’. She proposes that the key to this is the development of critical
thought which she defines as a ‘step-by-step process for getting rid of the
assumptions which underlie our belief systems and habitual ways of thinking
and acting’. The application of critical thought to a problem may also be said to
‘show up connections which may be hidden’ (Fairclough, 1989, p. 5). Cusack’s
earlier work argued that the research process itself may constitute emancipatory
education (especially where research leads to the implementation of change) if
the process invites the voicing of experience, raises critical awareness and
recognises individual worth (Glendenning, 1996).
Research subjects in the current study are engaged in developing an
understanding of the key terms learning, education, knowledge and wisdom. At
an individual level subjects are reflecting on and exploring alternative meanings
and questioning stereotypical images of age associated decline in the ability to
learn.
As the research has progressed it has become evident that the research
process is a learning experience for the research subjects as much as for the
researcher. Whilst people work together to understand how the fundamental
human tendency to learn affects them they begin to reflect critically on the
functions and institutions of learning and education and to reach new
understandings of the meaning of learning, and the role of formal and informal
education in their own lives. In working on the research the participants are

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equal partners as learner-researchers, researcher-learners in a version of the

concept developed by Friere of shared power and responsibility for learning and
thematic investigation. The problem posing concept of education and thematic
investigation, Friere suggests, ‘are simply different moments in the same process’
(Friere, 1972, p. 81). Qualitative research into learning invites a problem posing
approach to the ideas, values, concepts and hopes which constitute the theme of
education and learning and can become itself a learning experience.

Acknowledgement
The research in this article was conducted at the Institute for Education and
Lifelong Learning at the University of Dundee with support from Help the
Aged.

Correspondence
Tilda Gaskell, Institute for Education and Lifelong Learning, University of
Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, United Kingdom (k.m.gaskell@dundee.ac.uk).

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