February 15th, 2012 
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Oral History: A Viable Methodology for 21st Century
Educational Administration Research: National Impact
Oral history has been employed in many disciplines but has seldom been used in educational administration. It offers some promise and the authors suggest possible uses and interpretations of one proposed oral history project and one completed oral history project.
; The purpose of this article is to examine oral history interviewing and historical research as a viable research method within the broad family of research methodologies in educational administration and educational leadership. The evolution of research methodology in educational administration has been influenced by changing paradigms, changing needs, increasing institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight, and changing technology.
Research in Educational Administration Undergoing Transformation
; Educational administration research has undergone great transformation during the past century. By the late 1980′s business and social science methodologies were supplemented though not replaced by qualitative methods drawn from anthropology.; Action research fills yet another educational administration research niche.
; Not all influences on educational administration research in the 21st Century have been methodological.; A national increase in Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight has greatly influenced educational administration research (Herrington ; Kritsonis, 2006).; There remains great variance among universities regarding the extent to which educational research is subject to IRB oversight. Some universities exempt educational studies from IRB oversight completely, especially those studies that were intended to examine quality improvement in educational institutions or action research used for classroom instruction. Audio and video recording equipment, imaging equipment, and related software continue to be developed for oral history recording, however, analog recordings continue to be preferred by most oral history professionals.
Baum (1978) defined oral history as:
1.; a tape recorded interview, or interviews, in; question-and-answer format,
; In both of these cases, oral history methodology presents perhaps the only way to preserve otherwise unobtainable information. Concerning oral history Hoffman (1974) wrote:
The Role of History in Educational Reform
; Scholars have identified several uses for history in educational research. History makes this possible.
History is our collective memory.
Ethical Oversight of Oral History
Historical research and particularly oral history interviewing provides context and clear precedents that can be explored and considered for educational policy as well as practice. Educational researchers and IRB board members might wince at the notion of preserving recorded interviews. Such practice seems to contradict ethical provisions safeguarding anonymity of research subjects.; This is where the difference between oral history interviewing and other methodologies is important.
To address this ethics concern, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) and the Oral History Society (OHS) in October 2003 successfully petitioned the U.S. Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, for a special ruling on oral history research interviewing. They were especially concerned with oral history projects that do not involve the type of research defined by HHS regulations. Only those oral history projects that conform to the regulatory definition of research will now need to submit their research protocols for IRB review.
In conclusion, oral history methodology is technology-intensive. The expanding role of the librarian in oral history. In Dunaway, D.K. ; Baum, W.K. (Eds.), Oral history: An interdisciplinary anthology ;pp. 387-406). Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History and the Oral History Association.
Educational research (4th ed.). A history of thought
; and practice in educational administration. Oral history for Texans (2nd ed.). Austin, Texas: Texas Historical
Oral history: An interdisciplinary anthology.
TN: American Association for State and Local History and the Oral History Assocociation.
working relationship between educational researchers and Institutional Review Board members. National Forum for Educational Research Journal, 19(3), 1-5.
Oral history excluded from IRB
History and how to write it.