Research philosophies and approaches Grete Arro, MSc Researcher in Tallinn University

Research philosophies and
approaches
Grete Arro, MSc
Researcher in Tallinn University
Research paradigm
- basic belief system
guiding your
investigation
Research philosophy
- the ways, how the
knowledge is created
and what is the nature
of that knowledge
or:
- how things are in
general in the world
Epistemology
...deals with what constitutes acceptable
knowledge in a field of study
e.g., concentrating on “real”, countable and
measurable objects having separate existence
versus
concentrating on social phenomena with no
external reality; “invisible” and unmeasurable
phenomena
Positivism
• stance of a natural scientist
• unambiguous, countable objects of study observable social reality
• product - law-like generalisation
• existing theory -> hypotheses
• testing our hypotheses
• value-free way of studying (does it exist?)
Realism
•
objects have an existence independent of the human
mind (trust your senses!)
• direct realism - what you see is what you get: our
senses portray the world accurately
• critical realism - what we experience are sensations, the
images of things in the real world and not the things
directly.
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_feet_lin/index.html
Critical realism - two steps in experiencing the world:
1) thing itself and sensations it conveys
2) cognitive processing following sensation
Direct realism - the first step is just enough
___________________
Which position suits better in business and management
research?
• multi-level studies
Interpretivism
• ... crucial to understand differences between humans in our role as
social actors
• ...interpret our everyday social roles in accordance with the meaning
given to these roles
• we also interpret the social roles of others in accordance with our own
set of meanings
• empathetic stance of the researcher
• appropriate in business and management research (organisational
behaviour, marketing and human resource management) Why?
Business situations – complex AND unique
• ...a function of a particular set of circumstances and individuals question about the generalisability of research that aims to capture the
complexity of social situations
• Business world – constantly changing. Do we need to generalize?
Ontology
• ... asks about the nature of reality
• ... and the assumptions researchers have about
the way the world operates
• objectivism – social entities exist in reality
external to social actors concerned with their
existence
• subjectivism – social phenomena are created
from the perceptions and consequent actions of
social actors concerned with their existence
Objectivism vs subjecitivsm
Social phenomena...
•
•
...are an objective entity
...are independent of your
perceptual system
Social phenomena...
• ...are created from the perceptions
and consequent actions of social
actors
• ... in continual process and
constant state of revision
Important to study...
- details of the situation in order to
understand the reality
- subjective meanings motivating
the actions of social actors, in
order to understand these actions
The task is to try to understand
the subjective reality of the
customers in order to be able to
make sense of and understand
their motives, actions and
intentions in a way that is
meaningful
Pragmatism
• ...most important determinant of research philosophy
adopted -> the research question
• ...one approach may be better than the other for answering
particular questions
• mixed methods, both qualitative and quantitative are
possible/appropriate within one study
• ...the research philosophy as a continuum rather than
opposite and mutually exclusive positions
Pragmatism -> avoids the researcher engaging in rather
pointless debates about „truth” and „reality” and „essence
of knowledge”
Better:
- study what interests you
- is of value to you
- study in all the different ways you find appropriate
- use the results in ways that can bring about positive
consequences within your value system
Axiology
• ... a branch of philosophy that studies judgments about value
!!! The role your own values play in the research process is of
great importance - if you wish your research results to be
credible
• values -> the guiding reason of all our actions (?)
• Values jump in in every level: in choosing your...
- topic
- philosophical approach
- research method
- data collection tehniques
Phrasing your own personal values in relation to the topic may
be important for:
- to heighten your own awareness of value judgements you are making in
drawing conclusions from your data
- solving ethical problems
Which research philosophy is better?
Please, try to explain, why this is a stupid question?
- very human to stick to one worldview or paradigm
- a “congitive trap” -> deciding that one research
paradigm is better than the other
All philosopies are „better” at doing different
things;
which is better, depends on your research
question
• flexibility, realism
• another stupid question: what is the practical use
of understanding your philosophical position?
Research approaches
• the issue of theory – you will, want it or
not, base on some theory when you start
your research... you will lean on some
earlier knowledge that belong to some wider
contextual framework
• deductive – you develop a theory and
hypothesis first and then design a research
strategy to test the hypothesis
• inductive – you first collect data and develop
theory as a result of your data analysis
Deduction: testing theory
• ...the development of a theory that is subjected to
rigorous test
• ... approach, where laws present the basis of
explanation, allow the anticipation of phenomena, predict
their occurence and therefore permit them to be
controlled
Five stages of the deductive research:
1) deducting a hypothesis from a theory
2) expressing the hypothesis in operational terms, which
propose a relationship between two specific concepts or
variables
3) testing this operational hypothesis
4) examining the specific outcome of the inquiry
5) if necessary, modifying the theory in the light of the
findings
Characteristics of deduction...
• ...we try to explain causal relationships between
variables;
• ...we need some controls to allow the testing;
• ...structured methodology -> facilitate replication;
• ... researcher -> independent of what is being observed;
• concepts -> operationalised;
• reductionism (the problems as a whole are better
understood if they are reduced to the simplest possible
elements)
• generalisation (to generalise statistically about
regularities in social behaviour -> samples of sufficient
numerical size)
Induction: building theory
• Methods: get a feel of what is going on > to understand better the nature of the
problem
• Result of analysis -> the formulation of a
theory
• ...concerned with the context in which the
phenomena under study are taking place > small samples
So what - why it is so important to think about the
choice about my research approach?
- more informed decision about your research design ->
understanding better, if that what you will do, will answer to
the question you posed
- consider those research strategies that will work for you
and those that will not
- interested in understanding why something is happening ->
inductive approach
- interested to describe what is happening -> deductive
approach
- considering possible constraints: knowing with which
approach it is likely to get what kind of information, you are
able to consider, is given approach or method manageable
for you:
- is the right sample available;
- do you have enough prior knowledge about the topic ->
important to frame meaningful hypothesis
Combining research approaches: which one should you
prefer? Practical criteria for guiding your decision for
combining them:
• research topic:
- wealth of literature/previous studies and theories -> basis for your
theoretical framework/ hypothesis -> deduction
- new, exciting much debate, little existing literature -> induction
• time:
- deductive research -> quicker to complete; data collection based on „one
take”.
- inductive research -> ideas need time to emerge from the data and
analysis; living in constant risk that no useful data patterns and theory will
emerge!!!
• audience and data – most managers familiar with deduction; likely to put
faith in the conclusions growing out from this approach
• “irrational aspects” - preferences of your supervisor; approaches/ topics „in
fashion”; fields/paradigms that get more money in the moment
Homework :-P
Read the article from Joel Michell. Write a brief note – do
you agree with his standpoint – why? Or don’t you agree
with it – why? Please explain, what and why you think
about the given article in the way you do.
Please send this really brief essay at least 2 workdays
before the next lecture as a spontaneous discussion will
follow  My email: [email protected]
Thank you!