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adapted to suit the requirements of the research, whilst still “…maintain[ing] theoretical
coherence and epistemological innovation” (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2005, p. 316). Doing so
frees the research from conforming uncomfortably to one, set, methodological tool which
could potentially compromise the data gathering and analysis, thus avoiding “…a
reductionistic form of knowledge that impoverishes our understanding of everything
connected to it…” (Kincheloe, 2004, p. 5); and as Kincheloe and McLaren write: “in the first
decade of the 21 st century, bricolage typically is understood to involve the process of
employing these methodological strategies as they are needed in the unfolding context of the
research situation” (2005, p. 316). Hence, at times CDA is deployed, at other times the visual
analysis of CDA, and still at other times historical research methods are deployed, often in
the same area of research. These sentiments by Kincheloe (2004) and Kincheloe and
McLaren (2005) are also supported by Kincheloe and Berry who write:
A bricoleur would argue that the empiricism of using one methodology or even one
single theory presents only a partial answer to the original research question. Also
there exists the potential of linearity of monological research to reproduce the
political, economic, societal, historical, and intellectual issues and problems that led
to the study in the first place. (2004, p. 105)
Bricolage then can be viewed as an organizer of the methodological approaches used in the
various stages of this project. This approach was not determined at the beginning of the
research process, but rather developed out of preliminary investigations. This preliminary
work led to engaging in a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches, which led to
the decision to incorporate the methodology within an overall bricolage framework. The
remainder of this chapter outlines these approaches, identifying how they are incorporated
throughout this project.
3.2 Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis.
CDA is loosely defined as seeing “…discourse – language use in speech and writing – as a
form of ‘social practice’” (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, p. 258). Its purpose is to
“…investigate critically social inequality as it is expressed, signaled, constituted, legitimized
and so on by language use…” (Wodak, 2001b, p. 2). Whilst originally predominately used in
literary criticism, this approach is now commonly used in a range of fields. As Martin and
Wodak (2003) and Hammersley (1996) point out, methodologies influenced by linguistic
theories are emerging across a range of disciplines, including social sciences, education,
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