Meta-Theoretical Considerations for Research Flashcards
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative?
Qualitative
- small n
- flexible
- themes and expressions
- rich deep level of information
- inductive
- develop theories
- exploratory
Quantitative
- large n
- systematic, rigorous
- measured with instruments
- objective
- deductive
- test theories
- explanatory
What is ontology, epistemology, methods, and methodologies?
Ontology = the nature of reality [ideas about the world and how we study it] (Ontology, at its simplest, is the study of existence. Ontology is also the study of how we determine if things exist or not, as well as the classification of existence. It attempts to take things that are abstract and establish that they are, in fact, real. Ontology is a part of metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that looks at the very nature of things, their being, cause, or identity.)
Epistemology = what it means to know [ideas about knowledge and what constitutes as evidence] (How can I know reality?)
Methods: techniques for collecting and analysing data e.g. interview, questionnaires (What tools can we use to acquire knowledge?)
Methodologies: a broad framework consisting of theories and practices about how to proceed with the research (How do we acquire that knowledge?)
What are the different theories underlying ontology?
Realism: The ‘truth is out there’ & can be accessed through research (Realism, very simply put, is the notion that something is real)
Critical Realism: There is a real-world out there but we can only ever partially access it
Relativism: There are multiple ‘constructed’ realities - we can only ever know these ‘constructs’ (Relativist ontology is the belief that reality is a finite subjective experience (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) and nothing exists outside of our thoughts).
What are the different theories underlying epistemology?
Positivism: Assumes straightforward relationship between world & and our perception of it.
Contextualism: There isn’t a single reality and knowledge emerges from contexts BUT also seeks to understand the truth.
Constructionism
Our way of knowing about the world is tied to the social world in which we live and constructed (produced) through various discourse and systems of meaning
What is the difference between ontology and epistemology?
Ontology is concerned with that is true or real and the nature of reality. it asks the questions like “What is the nature of existence”
Epistemology is concerned with the nature of knowledge and different methods of gaining knowledge. Asks the questions like “what do you know?” and “How do you know it?”
What is complexity theory?
(complexity theory. a field that studies nonlinear systems with very large numbers of interacting variables using mathematical modelling and computer simulation. In general, it proposes that such systems are too complex to be accurately predicted but are nevertheless organised and nonrandom).
General Systems Theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968) to understand the functioning of a whole organism, we must understand both the constituent parts and the complex relationships between them
What are the different principles of critical realism?
- Independent Reality: Transitive & Intransitive Dimensions
- Stratified & Emergent Ontology
- Open & Closed Systems
- Agency & Structure
- Methodological Eclectism (in philosophy and theology, the practice of selecting doctrines from different systems of thought without adopting the whole parent system for each doctrine)
What is the difference between transitive and intransitive?
Transitive
- Theories (generated through scientific research)
- Not REALITY
- Continually evolving
Intransitive
- The phenomena we are attempting to understand
- Remains consistent
- Social world not entirely devoid of human involvement: importance of reflexivity.
What is a Stratified & Emergent Ontology
Stratified Ontology: The domain of the real includes the entities and structures of reality and the causal powers inherent to them as they independently exist.
Emergent ontology: emergent entities (properties or substances) ‘arise’ out of more fundamental entities and yet are ‘novel’ or ‘irreducible’ with respect to them. (For example, it is sometimes said that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain). emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own. These properties or behaviors emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. For example, smooth forward motion emerges when a bicycle and its rider interoperate, but neither part can produce the behaviour on their own.
Not only is the ontology stratified, it is also emergent, meaning that entities existing at one ‘level’ are rooted in, but irreducible to, entities existing at another ‘level’. For example, the social is rooted in but irreducible to the biological, which is rooted in but irreducible to the chemical, which is rooted in but irreducible to the atomic, and so on.
What is open and closed systems?
- research in closed-systems artificially controls for influential factors
- allows predictions of future events (from regular occurrences/ regularities)
- problem ‘controlling’ for unidentified causal mechanisms i.e. unknown unknowns
- can’t apply knowledge from closed-system to open-system
What is Methodological Eclectism?
- Methodological approach chosen on the basis of…
i) what one is looking to conceptualise
ii) how we do so whilst acknowledging the complexity of the phenomena - Extensive: consider extensive nature of the phenomena & outcome patters within the general populations (regularities)
- Intensive: help to explain underlying mechanisms/structures that make things happen
What is the difference between intensive and extensive research?
Extensive Research
- takes a random sample of specimens (bodies)
- looks for empirical regularities amongst them
- to give a ‘representative’ picture from which they could then safely generalise as to how the body works
Intensive
- start at a particular point on the body (doesn’t matter where) and then follow how one organ connects with another
builds up a picture of the body’s structure and the systems
What is the relationship between philosophy & psychology?
Philosophy underpins all sciences and as such, both disciplines also overlap with each other to a certain degree. Both bodies of knowledge deal with people and life but the aspects they focus on vary significantly. In its simplest differentiation, it can be said that philosophy tries to comprehend the existence of human life while psychology endeavors to understand human behavior.
what do you mean by quantitative and qualitative are not mutually exclusive
Research projects have usually been approached using either a quantitative or a qualitative approach which gives some people the idea that the approaches are mutually exclusive. However, it is possible to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches. This could be by using a qualitative study to guide the design of a subsequent quantitative study or by mixing elements of the one approach into the other.
It is more important to match the right design to the right question. Surveys (questionnaires) can often contain both quantitative and qualitative questions. The quantitative questions might take the form of yes/no, or rating scale (1 to 5), whereas the qualitative questions would present a box where people can write in their own words.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nursing/sonet/rlos/ebp/qvq/page_four.html
What are the limitations of a study?
its flaws or shortcomings which could be the result of unavailability of resources, small sample size, flawed methodology
he limitations of a study basically discusses any unanswered questions that your study did not address. Could you have used another means or method of data collection? Could the research design have been better? Was the sample not representative of the target population?
