Philosophical Underpinnings (2) Flashcards
What is meant by philosophical underpinnings?
The fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence
What is psychology?
The scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes
What is the fundamental question in psychology?
Why do people behave the way they do
What is research?
A systematic process of inquiry that leads to the development of new knowledge
What is a research paradigm?
A basic belief system or world view that guides investigation.
What are the three interrelated dimensions implied in the research paradigm?
Ontological, epistemological, methodological
What are the two core ontological concerns?
If existence of social phenomenon is external to social actors
If it’s constructed and developed by perceptions and actions of social actors
What is the main epistemological question?
If knowledge is real and true and impaired objectively
or
if knowledge is subjective based on personal experience and shaped by social entities
What is the core concern of epistemology?
Whether knowledge can be acquired or is continually created through personal and social experience
What is realism?
Representations of things in the world are straight forward reflections of they way they actually are
What is relativism
Representations of things in the world are socially constructed and can’t be seen as reflections of how these things actually are
What does research give us
Working hunches, not facts
What are the two methodologies within psychology
Quantitative and qualitative
Is qualitative more likely to be used in realism or relativism?
Relativism
Is qualitative idiographic or nomothetic?
Idiographic
