Understanding research philosophy

Research philosophy is an important part of research methodology. Research philosophy is classified as ontology, epistemology and axiology. These philosophical approaches enable to decide which approach should be adopted by the researcher and why, which is derived from research questions (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). The important assumptions are present in research philosophy which explains

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Four elements as foundation of the research process

As a starting point, it can be suggested that, in developing a research proposal, we need to put considerable effort into answering two questions in particular. First, what methodologies and methods will we be employing in the research we propose to do? Second, how do we justify this choice and use of methodologies and

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What about ontology?

In the research literature there is frequent mention of ontology and you might be wondering why ontology does not figure in the schema developed to this point. Ontology is the study of being. It is concerned with ‘what is’, with the nature of existence, with the structure of reality as such. Were we to

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In all directions of the research process

Back we go to our arrows. We have been drawing arrows from left to right—from one item in one column to another item in the next column to the right. We should feel very free to do this. First of all, there are few restrictions on where these left-to-right arrows may go. Any limitations

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The great divide between the qualitative research and quantitative research

In the model we are following here, you will notice that the distinction between qualitative research and quantitative research occurs at the level of methods. It does not occur at the level of epistemology or theoretical perspective. What does occur back there at those exalted levels is a distinction between objectivist/positivist research, on the

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Positivism: the march of science

Inherent in the methodologies guiding research efforts are a number of theoretical perspectives, as the previous chapter has suggested and Table 1 has exemplified. Furthermore, there is a range of epistemological positions informing the theoretical perspectives. Each epistemological stance is an attempt to explain how we know what we know and to determine the

Positivism

The coining of the word ‘positivism’ is often attributed to Auguste Comte. Unjustifiably, it seems. While he did make up the word ‘sociology’ (and its predecessor, ‘social physics’), he cannot be credited with ‘positivism’. We are on safer ground in seeing Comte as a populariser of the word, especially through the Societe Positiviste, which

Post-positivism

Early inroads into the absoluteness and dogmatism of positivist science were made by a pair of eminent physicists, Werner Heisenberg (1901- 76) and Niels Bohr (1885-1962). Heisenberg, a German scientist, is one of the founders of ‘quantum theory’. He articulates an ‘uncertainty principle’ which well and truly calls into question positivist science’s claims to

Constructionism: the making of meaning

Constructionism is well removed from the objectivism found in the positivist stance. In some areas it seems to have replaced objectivism as the dominant paradigm. If this is indeed the case, and to the extent to which it is the case, we are witnessing the end of a very long tradition. Objectivism—the notion that

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The construction of meaningful reality

In the constructionist view, as the word suggests, meaning is not discovered but constructed. Meaning does not inhere in the object, merely waiting for someone to come upon it. As writers like Merleau- Ponty have pointed out very tellingly, the world and objects in the world are indeterminate. They may be pregnant with potential

‘Social’ constructionism

If seeing interpretation as a making of meaning does not condemn us to subjectivism, it does not condemn us to individualism either. We have to reckon with the social origin of meaning and the social character with which it is inevitably stamped. Fish emphasises that ‘all objects are made and not found’ but adds

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Conformism or critique?

It would seem important to distinguish accounts of constmctionism where this social dimension of meaning is at centre stage from those where it is not. Using ‘constmctionism’ for the former and ‘constructivism’ for the latter has echoes in the literature, even if the terminology is far from consistent. For example, after referring to the

Realism and relativism

Social constructionism is at once realist and relativist. To say that meaningful reality is socially constructed is not to say that it is not real. As we have noted earlier, constructionism in epistemology is perfecdy compatible with a realism in ontology—and in more ways than one. Stanley Fish underlines the reality of our social

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Interpretivism: for and against culture

In the schema presented in the Introduction, the first column is headed ‘Epistemology’. Objectivism, which we have related to positivism and post-positivism, and constructionism, which we dealt with in the last chapter, are examples of epistemological positions encountered within the field of social research. As stated already, we shall encounter examples of a more

Roots of interpretivism

Interpretivism is often linked to the thought of Max Weber (1864— 1920), who suggests that in the human sciences we are concerned with Verstehen (understanding). This has been taken to mean that Weber is contrasting the interpretative approach (Verstehen, understanding) needed in the human and social sciences with the explicative approach (Erklaren, explaining), focused

Symbolic interactionism

Symbolic interactionism offers what is very much an American perspective on life, society and the world. As already noted when discussing constructionism, it stems from the thought of pragmatist philosopher and social psychologist George Herbert Mead. Mead’s teaching, which extended over a period of almost 40 years, principally at the University of Chicago, is

Phenomenology

Phenomenology, in itself, is a simple enough concept. The phenomenological movement was launched under the batde cry of ‘Back to the things themselves!’. The ‘things themselves’, as phenomenologists understand the phrase, are phenomena that present themselves immediately to us as conscious human beings. Phenomenology suggests that, if we lay aside, as best we can,

Interpretivism: the way of hermeneutics

The term ‘hermeneutics’ came into modem use in the seventeenth century in the context of biblical studies. Hermeneutics was, and is, the science of biblical interpretation. It provides guidelines for scholars as they engage in the task of interpreting Scripture. The actual explanation of what a biblical text means is known as exegesis. Behind

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Historical origins of hermeneutics

While the word is only about two-and-a-half centuries old, hermeneutics as a disciplined approach to interpretation can be traced back to the ancient Greeks studying literature and to biblical exegesis in the Judeo- Christian tradition. The Greeks took texts to be wholes rather than merely a juxtaposition of unorganised parts. Because of this, they

The hermeneutic mode of understanding

What, one might ask, are the characteristic ways in which hermeneutic theories differ from other approaches to meaning and understanding? For a start, it can be said that, in one way or another, hermeneutics views texts as strange and far off. It is because of this alienation or ‘distantiation’ that the interpretative task is