Ontology and Epistemology

Question 1

Ontology Defined:

Answer 1

Study of questions of being.
Influences epistemology.

Question 2

Ontology and Research Design

what should be done before research?

Answer 2

Positions on ontology and epistemology set before a research project.
Foundationalism (objectivism) and anti-foundationalism (relativism) are key stances.

Question 3

Foundationalism/Objectivism:

Answer 3

Causality operates independently of the observer.
Belief in a real world existing independently of our knowledge.
Objective existence of discrete objects.

Question 4

Anti-foundationalism/Relativism:

Answer 4

Reality is actively constructed through interactions.
Realities are local and specific.
The world has no causal power independent of people’s understanding.

Question 5

Epistemology Defined:

Answer 5

Study of what we can know.
Theories of knowledge.
Epistemological questions include defining knowledge and identifying boundaries.

Question 6

Scientific/Positivist Approaches:

Answer 6

Foundationalist ontology.
Aims for general laws and accurate predictions.
Analogous to natural sciences.

Question 7

Deeper into Positivism:

observation? claims separated?

Answer 7

Direct observation validates theories.
Normative claims are separate from empirical claims.
Critiques include issues of language mediation and theory-guided fact-finding.

Question 8

Hermeneutic/Interpretative Approaches:

Answer 8

Prioritizes understanding social action over explaining.
Originates from German philosophy.
Allows room for contingency in interpreting human behavior.

Question 9

Deeper into Interpretivism

What does interpretivism believe? About the world? About knowledge?

Answer 9

The social world is socially constructed.

Knowledge is discursively, theoretically, and conceptually laden.

Focus on identifying discourses that make sense of interpretations.

Question 10

Critical Realism:

Answer 10

Mixed View: Foundationalist ontology.
Epistemology shares features with interpretative approaches.
Acceptance of studying unobservable structures shaping behavior.

Question 11

Core Marxist Basis:

Answer 11

Objective facts of the world exist.
Interpretive features like class consciousness also matter.
‘Inference to the best explanation’ used for unobservable phenomena.

Question 12

Criticisms of Critical Realism:

Answer 12

Positivists argue unobservable structures are untestable.
Interpretivists reject an ‘objective’ basis for structures.
Critiques of Marxist concepts like false consciousness as unfalsifiable and unscientific.