PSYC217 - Epistemology

Ways of Knowing

Scientific method, and “unscientific” (non-data-driven) methods

Epistemology

A theory of knowing or knowledge

• How do we know what we know?

• How does knowing happen? How is it organized?

• How do we go about choosing one account or explanation over another?

• How is knowing enabled and constrained?

Involves assumptions about the knower, the known, and the relationship between them (the process of knowing)

Four common epistemological orientations

1. Positivist

2. Critical realist

3. Standpoint

4. Radical social constructionist

Positivist (Assumptions)

Most common approach; often taken-for-granted

• The world is governed by underlying regularities and natural laws

• The Truth exists and can be uncovered through systematic observation

• Objectivity - Good science is value-free

  • Observer’s personality and feelings introduce errors

  • Personal values minimized by scientific methods

• Replicability is a key component!

Positivist (Relationship between the knower and the known)

• The knower and the known must be completely separate

• The identity, experiences and interests of the knower should not influence their process of knowing

• All knowers see the known in the same way

  • E.g., statistical analysis of data should not be influenced by who the researcher is

Critical Realism (Assumptions)

• The world exists independently of our thinking about it

• There are patterns to the way the world works

• Scientific rationality is imperfect and limited but the best option

• The world is complex and changing: (psychological) phenomena have multiple causes

• Knowledge generation = ongoing collaborative community project

• Scientific understandings improve over time

Critical Realism (Relationship between the knower and the known)

• The knower - Shaped and limited by the discourses of culture and science

• The known - Complex and changing (will never be more than an increasingly accurate approximation of reality)

• The process of knowing - Mediated by culture and scientific tools but amendable to adjustment and increasing refinement

Standpoint (Assumptions)

• Knowing always happens from somewhere

  • History, culture, interests, physical location…

• Our perspectives are informed by

  • Our social locations (eg, class, race, gender, orientation)

  • Being marginalized or privileged

  • Our daily experiences

• Academic research privileges some standpoints over others

• Some marginalized groups are routinely the object of research; rarely the observer

Standpoint (Relationship between the knower and the known)

• The knower - Every knower has a particular vantage point

• The known - Differs depending on who is doing the knowing, and when and how they do it

• The process of knowing - Partial, local, and historically specific

Radical Social Constructionism (Assumptions)

• Natural laws do not exist for the social sciences

• Institutions produce the social world that they claim to only study

• Social scientific classifying, labeling, diagnosing, and treating groups and individuals actually creates those individuals and groups:

  • Who they are

  • How they understand themselves

  • How others see and treat them

Radical Social Constructionism (Relationship between the knower and the known)

• The knower produces the known through the process of knowing

• Radical implications - Everything we know is a product of our perception

Epistemology and methodology

Your epistemological position informs how you do research:

• What is important to study?

• What is a valid, useful research question?

• What method is most effective for answering this question?

• What participants/texts do I want to give voice to?

• How should I present my data?