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: arro@tlu.ee Thank you!