Week 1: Introduction Flashcards
What can a person’s positionality impact when conducting research?
-The researcher’s worldview
-Epistemology
-The questions one asks
-The methods chosen to learn through
-Language used
-How relationships with others are built
Which kind of research is most aligned with considering power relationships, oppression, marginalization, and decolnization?
Critical social science
What is the main characteristic of the way knowledge is collected and organized in a Eurowestern context?
Systematic
What are some of a social worker’s interests in research when coming from an anti-oppressive perspective?
-How a knowledge searcher has arrived at a topic/question
-How social issues are explained
-How knowledge is embedded in political and ethical complexities
-How knowledge is produced and who benefits from it
-The implications of research for marginalized groups
-Who is authorized to create/own knowledge
-The influence of social position
What is epistemology?
The study of how we know what we know
What is a paradigm?
A worldview/perspective that forms the foundation of how we think and make decisions
What is the main difference between the terms worldview and paradigm?
Paradigm tends to be more positivistic, while worldview tends to be more wholistic
What are the three traditional Eurowestern worldviews used in research?
-Pre-positivism (crude science, church-based evidence)
-Positivism (scientific method, one truth, objectivity, generalizability)
-Post-positivism (seeking one truth while acknowledging limitations)
What are two more contemporary Eurowestern worldviews used in research?
-Interpretive (no one truth, socially constructed reality, inductive reasoning, depth + insight > generalizability)
-Transformative (critical theory; focus on power relations, oppression, marginalization, and colonization)
What is deductive reasoning, and what type of worldview is it associated with?
-Use of theory and hypothesis
-Quantitative
-Drawing conclusions from the results of a test
-Associated with positivism
What is inductive reasoning, and what type of worldview is it associated with?
-No “testing” of a hypothesis; begins with an open mind
-Qualitative or arts-based
-Results emerge from the data
-Results are not generalizable, but instead achieve depth and meaning/insight
-Associated with interpretive and transformative worldviews
What is a purist approach to research?
the knowledge gatherer only adheres to one worldview; only asks questions, gathers knowledge, and interprets from that paradigm
What is a pragmatic approach to research?
a recognition that the best approach to knowledge creation depends on the context and needs of the community; approach varies depending on context
What is the “ethical space” in research?
a meeting place within or between any of the knowledges/methodologies in research which recognizes that there are many ways of knowing; requires knowledge searchers to find a way to allow “you to be you and me to be me and respect the whole”
