Research Philosophies

Planning Research

Chapter 4

Why is it important?

It can help you choose the research method

Assist you to evaluate different research methods

It may help you to be creative by choosing or adapting research methods

Two main philosophies

Positivism A more objective interpretation of reality Using hard data form surveys

Phenomenology (interpretivism/constructionism) Examine people and their behavior

Features

Positivism The world is external

and objective

Science is value-free

Focus on facts Structured and formal

Phenomenology The world is socially

constructed and subjective

Science is driven by human interests and motives

Focus on meanings Evolving and flexible

The positivist researcher

Take the stance of a natural scientist Remain distanced fram the object that

you study Focus on facts Use a structured methodology

The interpretive researcher

Seek insight into phenomena Try to understand and interpret what is

occurring and why Focus on finding and understanding

meanings Less structured and less formal

methodology

Conjunction/Triangulation

Combining the strength of both philosophies

May enhance the process of systematizing your research

While retaining the ability to investigate phenomena in depth

Research approaches

Deduction Moving from the known to the unknown

Induction The evidence leads the researcher to a

conclusion

Deduction

The conclusion is drawn first The research is all about proving it to

be correct or incorrect Develop a hypothesis Express it in operational terms Test the hypothesis Examine the outcome Eventually modify the theory

Induction

Advantages Helps make causes between particilar variables

and the way they are interpreted Helps you explain why a particular phenomena

is taking place Disadvantages

More effective with a small sample The risk og finding no useful data patterns and

theories are higher

Continuum

The deductive and theory-driven approach

can be used alongside

The inductive and phenomena-driven approach

Inductive /phenomenology

Particularly interrested in understanding why something is happening

Rather than

Describing what is happening

Qualitative/Quantitative

The phenomenology approach is usually associated with induction and qualitative approach

Conclusions drawn from such research designs cannot be generalized

Two systematic approaches

Quantitative

Objective

Deductive Generalizable Numbers

Qualitative

There are issues about ”objectivity”

Inductive Not generalizable Words

Conjunction/Triangulation

A combination of the two offers the best of two worlds!

If you think that a mixed methodology is appropriate then do not hessitate to adopt it.

Assignment

Positivism Phenomenology

Constructionism

Apply the following terms to the continuum above

Qualitative

Quantitative

Deductive

Inductive

The levels of scientific approach

1. Research Design – methodology2. Research Strategy – case study,

observations, surveys3. Research Methods – data collection,

interpretation, analysis

Apply these levels to the continuum in the assignment above

Triangulation

Explain triangulation in relation to the figure you have just constructed by assembling the continuum and the levels og scientific approach

How can triangulatoin be used in planning a research?