Methods of Research Chapter 3 Research at Philosophical Level .ppt

8/16/2019 Methods of Research Chapter 3 Research at Philosophical Level .ppt

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Prof. ir . Panchito M. Labay


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What is a positivist, a

post-modernist and a

feminist point of view?

What is qualitative,

quantitative & mied

methods of research?


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• help the researcher to refine

and specify his or herresearch point of view or

philosophical underpinnin!s• enable the researcher to

evaluate different methodolo-

!ies and methods to avoid

inappropriate use and

unnecessary wor" by

identifyin! the limitations of

particular approaches at an

early sta!e• help the researcher to becreative and innovative in

either selection or adaptation

of methods that were

previously outside his or her

eperience.

Its me when I was assigned to do a research work

in John Hopkins University with my Ugandan

classmate.


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#here are three ma$or philoso-

phical schools that affect theconduct of doin! research%

P'(#()('# *cornerstone of

traditional science+stresses thatscience as ‘knowledge’ is

ascertained by empiricalobservations & experimentations. It

has an objectivist view that ‘acts’ or

‘realities’ are not the res!lts o

h!man cognition or thinking or

created in one’s mind. "hey are

external to the observer and areimposed on the observer’s

conscio!sness rom witho!t.

It preers meas!rement and

replicability and making generali#

sations rather than speciicobservations.


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(t follows the scientific method%

Problem

#heory

ypothesis

perimentation/ata !atherin!

Provin!


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0hallen!es to the positivist 1 scientific 1ob$ectivist views%

2. #ruth or reality is a social construct*sub$ectivism+, created by human bein!s& the ob$ects of thou!ht are merelywords *nominalism+ produced by thelan!ua!e we spea" *a narrative,discourse, etc.+.

3. 4ealities are comple, which cannot bereduced to measurable 5simplevariables6 and therefore inappropriate tocome up with !eneral !overnin! theory.Lo!ocentrism is not truethere is nosuch absolute truth.

7. periments conducted in laboratoriesare becomin! redundant, because onecannot really capture the essence of thenatural world. #hou!h positivist is!uided by rationality, but rationalityitself is a product of social fabrications.

8. Positivism is a he!emonic idea thatsuppresses other forms of "nowled!es.

$!perman is a creative social constr!ct%

which pres!med can be made in the

laboratories thro!gh the science o cloning

or genetics engineering


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• scientific fraud is etremely

widespread, even in most

industrialised countries.

• biased and sub$ective nature of

scientists as human bein!s

• material need for !lory and honour,!ainin! more !rants and pressure to

publish outputs

• doin! the eperimentation over and

over a!ain to !et the 5desired6 results

• the nature of some researchers that

there is 5no presti!e in re-doin! other

researcher6s eperiments. #herefore

the ris" of doin! fraudulent wor" is

very little.

History reveals that greatscientists like Ptolemy,Galileo, Newton, Daltonand Mendell all tamperedsome of their researchdata.

Source Sutherland, !"#"


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Post-positivist believes that pure

empiricism, e.!., derivin! "nowled!eonly throu!h observation and

measurement, is not enou!h. #hus, post-

positivism is built on the concept of

critical realism, that there is a real world

o!t there independent o o!r perceptiono it.

(t posits that 9data are not inherently

'!antitative and cannot be bits and

pieces o almost anything :.

#he metaphysical as being beyond the

scope o science% it was increasingly

accepted by post#positivists that

althou!h a real world driven by natural

causes eists, it is impossible for

humans to truly perceive it with theirim erfect sensor and mental ca acit .

(instein is not only a positivist b!t also

a post#positivist & post#modernist


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#he post-positivist approaches

assume that reality is m!ltiple%s!bjective, and mentally

constr!cted by individuals. #he

use of fleible and multiple

methods is desirable as a way of

studyin! a small sample in depthover time that can establish

warranted assertability as

opposed to absolute truth. #he

researcher interacts with those

bein! researched, and findin!s

are the outcome of this

interactive process with a focus

on

‘)ntipo’ is a c!lt!ral practice d!ring *enten

$eason% which is a good s!bject or research

ollowing the post#positivist mode o in'!iry.


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Letourneau and ;llen *2


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(t follows the inductive method%

Problem

0ontetualisin!(ntrospection

#heory@ieldwor" 1

/ata !atherin!


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P'#-M/4A('#'!estions the

belie in reason & rationality o the positivist. It arg!es that ‘reality’ is a

social constr!ct in the orm o words

lang!age% stories% narratives% disco!rses%

etc.

It avo!rs observation rom the inside in

avo!r o ‘vision’% in which the researcher

and the observed are not clearly

disting!ished. "h!s% the researcher is the

‘prime instr!ment’.

It preers an introspective% s!bjective

interpretation.

It dissolves the bo!ndaries between

disciplines% since ‘realities’ can be drawn

rom dierent angles +relativism &

methodological pl!ralism,. -reativity will

grow i this will not be p!t inside the‘black box’.

rokeback /o!ntain speaks abo!t reality


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Buestions to the post-modernist

views%

2. 4ise of 5"nowled!e anarchy6, a

disorder world of eplainin! a

social, natural, physical, etc.

phenomena. 4e$ects meta- and

!rand narratives of the world andreinforces our sensitivity to

differences.

3. #he rules of lo!ic are nothin!, but

all social construct that are

prescribed for ways of thin"in!.7. (t is a counter he!emonic concept

to positivism that demystifies the

rhetorical acceptance of modern

science."he problem o traditional science in solving some o

o!r present problems gives rise to post#positivist and post#modernist points o view.


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'CMDL(0 (A#4;0#(A('#

ollows the post#modernistview’% both in theory and practice%

b!t is more concerned on

explaining society in terms o its

overall str!ct!re.

It believes that we are living in a

‘semiotic world’% whereinsymbols and comm!nication

+ling!istic & gest!ral, are created

and given with ‘meanings’ &

identities in all o!r daily

interactions with o!r

environments.

It !pholds the ca!se & eect

analysis to describe social reality

rom within% like in interpreting

the views% eelings and actions o

those involved in a givensit!ation or liestyle.

0e live in a world o words% lang!ages% signs andstr!ct!res which we give them identities and meanings.


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@M(A('#ollows ‘tradi#

tional science’% both intheory and practice b!t

sho!ld be air to women.

It is an emerging philoso#

phical school g!ided by

eminist theory. It is reallynot a method% b!t a

perspective that recog#

nises diversity% open to

cross discipline% so as to

avoid the ‘marginalisation’

o women.

0omen need not be conined only in

ho!sehold chores% b!t m!st also a part

o social change


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#he scientific ethos of research prevails

as of today and still survives due to

the followin! ideals%

Eniversalism. (deas and bodies of

"nowled!e must be evaluated on thebasis of merit that it established.

0ommunalism. Fnowled!e is not

"nowled!e if it is not shared, because

the search for "nowled!e is a human

act for public use.'"epticism. ne6s wor" must be

scrutiniGed and challen!ed. 'cientific

authority must be appraised and

reappraised re!ularly.

mpiricism. bservations of the natural

and social worlds are based on facts

that can be apprehended by human6s

senses.

(mpartiality. 'cientists must have a

sense of impartiality and open-

mindedness.


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#han" you, because we have $ust

finished 0hapter 7

#E#4 M;4F/ ;0#()(#C

@or the inte!ration of all concepts, please do the followin! activities%

2. (n the internet *www.!oo!le.com+ , search for two published

research papers that applied the concepts of a positivist, a post-modernist or a feminist.

3. (n no more than HH words describe their peculiarities.

/ate of submission%
http://www.google.com/http://www.google.com/

Methods of Research Chapter 3 Research at Philosophical Level .ppt

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