Ontology, epistemology, methodology, logic of reasoning Flashcards
Ontology
Study of being/existence. Answers the question: What’s out there to know about? It is concerned with the nature of reality and what is there to know about the world.
Epistemology
Study of knowledge. Is concerned with ways of knowing and learning about the world and focusses on issues such as “how we can learn about reality?” and “what forms the basis of our knowledge?”
Methodology
Study of methods. Depends on how a researcher’s ontology and epistemology connects. “How can we acquire that knowledge?”.
Two ontological positions
- Realism: based on the idea that there is an external reality which exists independently of people’s beliefs/understanding of it.
- Idealism: based on the idea that reality is mind-dependent; it is only knowledgeable through the human mind and socially constructed meanings.
Two epistemological positions
- Objectivism: Meaning is within the object. An object has certain properties and we can measure that objectively.
- Subjectivism: Meaning is mind-dependent. A subject gives meaning to an object.
Positivism
Research paradigm.
1. Sees natural and social science as something that both can be objectively studied.
2. Aim is to identify causal relationships, as it sees that we can identify universal laws of human behaviour.
3. Researcher has to be objective and value free (impossible, already not objective when picking research question).
4. Use theory to generate hypothesis and direct observation to test them (deduction).
More about explaining.
Interpretivism
Research paradigm.
1. Sees the social world as socially constructed/mind-dependent, unlike the natural world.
2. Aim is to understand social phenomena, as our interpretations of social phenomena are crucial.
3. Researcher cannot be neutral, observations always have values (double hermeneutic).
4. We can identify discourses to establish the interpretations they give to social phenomena.
More about understanding.
Double hermeneutic
In interpretivist paradigm. There are two interpretations; the interpretation of the researcher and the interpretation of the researched.
Critical realism
Research paradigm in the middle of positivism and interpretivism.
1. Sees reality as something that exists outside of our observational reach, we cannot perfectly perceive reality.
2. Aim is to emancipate and bring about social change by uncovering underlying structures that constrain agency.
3. The researcher should be self-reflective and seek social change.
4. Theories are filters of reality and should be constantly re-evaluated (retroduction).
Pragmatism
Research paradigm in the middle of positivism and interpretivism.
1. Sees debates about reality as irrelevant.
2. Aim is to understand the research problem, sees interpretations as true if they have practical utility.
3. The researcher should be cautious and self-conscious about what they do.
4. We should use all necessary approaches to understand a research problem.
Aim of qualitative research
To provide new insights into phenomena that are difficult to measure.
What is qualitative research?
Often a description of processes, mechanisms and settings. It builds on participant perspectives and experiences.
When is qualitative research best suited?
When the topic is:
1. Ill-defined/not well understood
2. Complex, specialist, deeply rooted in personal experiences.
3. Delicate, intangible or sensitive.
Characteristics of a good research question
- Informed by/connected to existing research.
- Focuses the research topic (feasibility).
- Is openminded and non-leading (unbiased).
- Is open ended and allows several potential answers.
Characteristics of a qualitative research questions
- Focus on people’s perceptions, experiences, beliefs and motivations
- Aims to uncover contextual conditions
- Are often concerned with understanding complex political processes (y-centered)
- Aim to understand the beliefs and motivations underlying political behaviors
