Philosophical Worldviews and Methodological Coherence

what is a philosophical worldview

set of beliefs related to one’s general orientation to the world and the nature of research

dictates what a researcher believes is knowledge

what is ontology

one’s general orientation to the word

one’s belief in the nature of truth and reality

what is epistemology

the nature of the researcher’s belief about how we acquire knowledge about truth and reality

5 common philosophical worldviews in kin

1. post-positivism

2. constructivism

3. pragmatism

4. 2 eyed seeing

5. transformative

(Pretty Cats Pee 2 Times)

ontology and epistemology of post positivism

ontology: critical realist

epistemology: modified objectivist

critical realist

the ontology of post-positivism

believes there is one single reality or truth to be discovered through research

goal of research is to come as close to this truth as possible, but acknowledge we may never reach it

is post positivism more quantitative or qualitative

usually quantitative

modified objectivist

epistemology of post-positivism

researchers try to be as objective/unbiased as possible but acknowledge that it’s impossible to remove all influence over the research process

what method does the post-positivism worldview rely on?

scientific method → observation, question, hypothesis…

assumptions of post-positivism

1. determinism: cause determines effect

2. reductionism: ideas can be reduced to small testable research questions

3. critical realism: there is one single reality/truth to be discovered through research

4. modified objectivism: researchers are as objective as possible but may still have some influence over the research process

ontology and epistemology of constructivism

ontology: relativist

epistemology: subjectivist

relativist

ontology of constructivism

• multiple meanings exist

• meanings of reality are subjective and socially constructied

• individuals engage with their world and make sense of it based on their own personal, cultural, and historical backgrounds

difference between critical realists and relativists

critical realists: there is one single reality or truth

relativists: there are multiple realities, realities are subjective and socially constructed

subjectivism

epistemology of constructivism

researchers recognize that their own realities and views shape the research process

researchers cannot be removed from the construction and interpretation of findings

source of data for a constructivism worldview

qualitative

assumptions of constructivism

• you engage with your world and make sense of it based on your own perspectives of reality

• researchers cannot be removed from the construction and interpretation of findings

pragmatism

researchers are concerned with solutions to problems

incorporate all research approaches that are required to best address their RQ

pragmatism sources of data

mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative)

transformative worldview

• research needs to have an agenda to advocate for marginalized peoples

• focus on reform and change through research (NOT just as a result of the research)

  • researchers and participants work together to create meaningful change for the participants

sources of data for a transformative worldview

usually qualitative but may also incorporate quantitative)

constructivism and transformative worldviews are concerned with

social processes

• these are inherently subjective

• we all interpret meanings abour our everyday interactions

• words, actions, and symbols have different meanings to different people or in different places

when might bias and subjectivity be good in research

• insider knowledge about a sport/situation/phenomenon

• localized knowledge about meanings, phrases, implications of statements

do we control researcher bias in transformative and constructivism worldviews?

no! we instead make sure we make our subjectivities explicit

• acknowledge it and describe how they might influence the way we construct and interpret the data

a researcher’s worldview will influence…

what research questions they ask and how they go about attempting to answer them

methodological coherence

the methodological trajectory of an entire research project

the connection between:

• research questions

• worldview

• oontology

• epistemology

• methodology (quantitative? qualitative? mixed?)

• theory

• methods/data (correlational? ethnography? causational? etc. experimental or non-experimental?)

what is a theory

a ‘conceptual map’ which outlines interrelationships between a set of variables within a specific domain which, when taken collectively, purports to explain a given phenomena

*BASED ON EVIDENCE

a way of framing a problem to to predict relationships between variables

what is it called when research does not have an explicit theory

atheoretical framework

inductive approach

bottom up (research to make a theory)

data is collected before theory is formed

1. a phenomenon is observed

2. data is collected on possible reasons why it occurs and trends in data are examined

3. a theory is developed from this data to explain the phenomenon

mostly qualitative!

grounded theory

building theory is the end goal of research

inductive, bottom up method

deductive approach

theory comes before data collection

“top down”

mostly quantitative

1. a phenomenon is observed

2. a theory is developed to explain why it occurred

3. the theory is tested through research and the theory is either supported, unsupported, or revised

abductive approach

includes inductive and deductive reasoning

they occur sequentially

inductive to form a hypothesis and then deductive to verify that it is true

part of a mixed method research design