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Hammersley (1992) pointed out that since the connection between method and
epistemology has not been demonstrated in the social sciences, there is no reason to
believe that there was a necessary connection between research methods and
epistemological position. Sayer (2000) further suggested a shift towards a research
strategy that combines both approaches, arguing that the emergence of critical
realism as a philosophy of social sciences and a methodology that draws on
epistemological and ontological orientations of positivism and interpretivism
strongly supports arguments for combining different research perspectives in
research. However, others have warned that although quantitative and qualitative
methods can be integrated technically, this does not presuppose that the
epistemological issues pertaining to the two approaches are readily reconciled
(Bryman, 2004).
Positivism, Interpretivism and Critical Realism
According to Orlikowski and Baroudi (1991) following Chua's (1986) classification
of research epistemologies, a piece of research can be positivist, interpretive or
critical. Chua (1986) explained that research can be classified as positivist when
there is evidence of formal propositions, quantifiable measures of variables,
hypothesis testing, and the drawing of inferences about a phenomenon from a
representative sample to a stated population. Research can be classified as
interpretive when there is evidence of a non-deterministic perspective where the
intent of the study is to enhance understanding of the phenomenon within cultural
and contextual situations; where the phenomenon of interest was examined in its
natural setting and from the perspective of the participants; and where researchers
did not impose their outsiders' a priori understanding of the situation. Finally,
research can be qualified as critical, if there is evidence of a critical stance towards
taken-for-granted assumptions about organisations and information systems, and a
dialectical analysis that attempts to reveal the historical, ideological, and
contradictory nature of existing social practices.
To further explain the philosophical stances that researchers adopt as classified by
Chua (1986), Orlikowski and Baroudi (1991) argue that these are beliefs about
physical and social reality, beliefs about knowledge and beliefs about the relationship
between knowledge and the empirical world. These beliefs include:
Beliefs about physical and social reality: Ontological beliefs have to do with the
essence of the phenomena under investigation; that is whether the empirical world is
assumed to be objective and thus independent of humans in creating and recreating.
Human rationality has to do with the intentions ascribed by researchers to the
humans they study. Finally, beliefs about social relations deal with how people
interact in organisations, groups and society.
Beliefs about the relationship between knowledge and the empirical world: These
beliefs concern the role of theory in the world of practice and reflect the values
and intentions researchers bring to their work. More precisely, what researchers
believe is appropriate to accomplish with their research and what they intend to
achieve within a specific study.
The underlying assumptions guiding the three research philosophies, which include
positivist, interpretive and critical philosophies are further explored as presented by
Orlikowski and Baroudi (1991) in the Table below:
Positivist
Interpretive
Critical
Beliefs about
physical and social
reality
Social reality is
historically
constituted, and
hence human beings,
organisations, and
societies are not
confined to
existence in a
particular state.
Beliefs about
knowledge
Concerned with
empirical testability
of theories, whether
this requires theories
to be verified or
falsified, this
belief is hypotheticdeductive account of
scientific
explanation
As impartial
observers,
researchers can
objectively evaluate
Emphasises the
importance of
subjective
meanings and
social-political as
well as symbolic
action in the
processes through
which humans
construct and
reconstruct their
reality
Understanding
social reality
requires
understanding how
practices and
meanings are
formed and
informed by
language and
norms shared by
humans working
towards the same
goal. The
researchers
constructs,
interpretations or
explanations that
account for how
subjective
meanings are
created and
sustained in a
particular setting.
The researcher
never assumes a
value-neutral
stance, and is
Long-term historical
studies and
ethnographic studies
of organisational
processes and
structures.
empirical world
or predict actions or
processes, but
cannot get involved
in moral judgement
or subjective
opinion.
always implicated
in the phenomena
being studied.
Interpretivism adopts the stance that our knowledge of reality is a social construction
by human actors (Walsham, 1995). In this situation the researcher uses his/her
preconceptions to guide the process of research, as such; value free data cannot be
obtained. This is in contrast to positivism, where the assumption is that the objective
data collected by the researcher can be used to test prior hypotheses or theories.
Orlikowski and Baroudi (1991) distinguish between positivist and interpretive
articles in their study of information technology in organisations. They identified
positivist research methods as methods that encourage deterministic explanations of
phenomena where these explanations emerge from interactions between the
researcher and his/her subjects. Here, the researcher dominates the relationship. The
positivist approach is focused on the validity and control of the research procedures
thereby adopting a predetermined and restricted stance towards the phenomenon
under investigation. Interpretive research in contrast, provides evidence of a nondeterministic perspective with intent to increase understanding of the phenomena
within a specific cultural and contextual setting and an examination of the
phenomena and the setting from the perspective of the participants.
A recent emerging philosophy is social constructionism which has increasingly
emerged as an important perspective within social science and has even become
predominant in some areas. Generally it can be said that for social constructionism,
in contrast to positivism, reality is precisely socially constructed (how individuals
make sense of world around them).The important thing for research therefore
becomes to explore how these social constructions happen. This approach is not
particularly theory-oriented; the focus is rather on the disclosure of how social
phenomena are socially constructed.
Conclusion
The section dwell on the research orientations and philosophies. The essence of this
is for a researcher to know which of the strands his/her study belongs and apply the
traditions to his/her study. It is very important for a researcher to know that his/her
study is driven by the research problem (i.e. research question or hypotheses) is
willing to test or provide answers to, and this directly determines the research
orientation and by extension the research designs for the study. In research, the
research problem determines every other procedure.
Questions for review
1. What is meant by each of the following terms: positivism, interpretivism,
critical realism and social constructionism
2. What are the implications of epistemological considerations for research
practice
3. What is the relationship between research quantitative/qualitative dividingline and the research philosophies
4. In research methodology what determines the research philosophical
classification? Illustrate with examples.
5. A positivist is superior to an interpretivist. Discuss
Reference
Alasuutari, P; Bickman, L. and Brannen, J. (2008) The SAGE Handbook of Social
Research Methods. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Bailey K. (1982) Methods of Social Research (2nd Ed.) The Free Press: New York