BES3144: methods of inquiry

knowledge management

systematic process of creating, capturing, organizing, and sharing human knowledge to foster learning, innovation, and improved functioning in various aspects of wellness and wellbeing.

management

efficient use of resources

pillars of knowledge management

• consumption

• generation

• propagation

consumption

using knowledge

generation

creating knowledge

propagation

sharing knowledge

5 C’s of Knowledge Management

1. Capture

2. Curate

3. Connect

4. Collaborate

5. Create

capture

archiving and keeping tacit and explicit knowledge from different corpora such as lessons learned, expertise, success stories, milestones, and other documents.

curate

arranging, clarifying, and verifying information to ensure that they are reliable, accessible, useful, and available to all.

connect

bridging people to experts, communities of practice, support groups, and other relevant sources to facilitate the exchange of knowledge.

collaborate

uniting and joining forces with people to share ideas and insights, resolve issues, improve processes, discuss best practices, and exchange stories.

create

advancing knowledge, insights, and innovations by capitalizing on existing information, fostering creativity, and promoting scholarship.

methods of inquiry

• ways in which a person can acquire knowledge or find answers to questions.

• organized and systematic approaches used by scholars for controlled investigations and experiments to efficiently solve theoretical and practical problems, generating discoveries and / or other advances.

the 7 methods of inquiry

1. superstitious method

2. intuitive method

3. authoritative method

4. tenacious method

5. rational method

6. experiential method

7. scientific method

superstitious method

source of knowledge grounded on the magic and certain practices attributed to the unknown; commonly passed on from one generation to the other and are considered essential in maintaining certain aspects of a culture’s belief system.

intuitive method

information is accepted on the basis of a hunch or “gut feeling”

limitation of intuitive method

no mechanism for separating accurate from inaccurate knowledge

authoritative method

• a person relies on information or answers from an expert in the subject area

• its strength depends on the strength of these sources

limitations of authoritative method

1. we assume, by virtue of the person’s status as an authority, that expertise can be generalized to include the question we are asking (advertisement endorsers)

2. answers obtained from an expert may represent subjective, personal opinion rather than true expert knowledge

3. expert’s statement is often accepted without question; as a result, false information is sometimes taken as truth.

4. not all experts are experts.

tenacious method

information is accepted as true because it has always been believed in by people; word of mouth phenomenon; power in numbers

rational method

• seeking answers by logical reasoning

• set of premise statements are combined to yield a conclusion

• if-then statement

experiential method

• uses observation or direct sensory experience to obtain knowledge

• attempts to answer questions by direct observation or personal experience

scientific method

• conclusions are based on empirical evidences or observed facts

• data collected to support the conclusions are adequate, representative and were gathered accurately, without bias

• entails objectivity, critical analysis and logical reasoning

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“my lucky playlist helps me pass”

superstitious method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“i feel like music helps me concentrate”

intuitive method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“my professor says music helps”

authoritative method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“everyone says studying with music helps”

tenacious method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“if music improves concentration, then it should improve performance”

rational method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“i listened to music and got a high score”

experiential method

comparison: which method of inquiry is being presented?

“let’s systematically test whether music affects exam performance”

scientific method

principles of scientific method

1. empirical

2. public

3. objective

science is empirical

answers are obtained through structured and systematically performed methods.

science is public

methods / procedures are available for evaluation by others for replication or repetition by being published in scientific journals.

science is objective

methods are structured so that biases and beliefs do not influence the outcome of the study.

experimentation as a research method

• pinpointing the questions or problems

• review of related literature and studies

pinpointing questions or problems

good research starts with a good question

review of related literature and studies

• reconnaissance

• collective body of works that help build up the research work by demonstrating what are known and what are unknown about a chosen toping