The Potential for Vygotskian Sociocultural Perspective in Researching Researcher Development

Abstract

This paper builds on the recently emerged scholarship of researcher development and considers a potential conceptual framework to inform methodology in research on researcher development. Specifically, I begin by examining the knowledge base of researcher development and discussing a recently proposed agenda for research in the field. I then argue that there is a particular need for a conceptual framework to underpin research on researcher development and consider the potential of a framework that draws upon Vygotskian sociocultural and activity theory. At the end of the paper, I present analysis of qualitative data from existing researcher development literature to illustrate how this framework can be applied empirically.