Learning Unit 1 PDF - Strategies of Acquiring Knowledge in Social Sciences Research

 Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. TABLE OF CONTENTS LEARNING UNIT 1: STRATEGIES OF ACQUIRING KN...

 Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. TABLE OF CONTENTS LEARNING UNIT 1: STRATEGIES OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE IN SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH............................................................................................. 3 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 3 2. LEARNING OUTCOMES...................................................................................................... 3 3. DEFINING KEY CONCEPTS................................................................................................ 4 4. SOURCES OF ACQUIRING GENERAL KNOWLEDGE...................................................... 4 4.1 Tradition.................................................................................................................................... 4 4.2 Authority.................................................................................................................................... 5 4.3 Mysticism and religion............................................................................................................... 5 4.4 Common sense......................................................................................................................... 6 4.5 Media myths.............................................................................................................................. 7 5. ERRORS IN HUMAN INQUIRY AND HOW SCIENTISTS AVOID THEM............................ 7 5.1 Inaccurate observation.............................................................................................................. 7 5.2 Overgeneralisation.................................................................................................................... 8 5.3 Selective observation................................................................................................................. 8 5.4 Illogical reasoning...................................................................................................................... 9 6. THE DOMINANT PARADIGMS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH.................................................. 10 6.1 Positivism................................................................................................................................ 10 6.2 Interpretivism........................................................................................................................... 11 6.3 Critical theory approach........................................................................................................... 12 6.4 Feminist approach................................................................................................................... 14 6.5 Postmodernism........................................................................................................................ 14 6.6 Postcolonialism........................................................................................................................ 15 7. STAGES IN RESEARCH.................................................................................................... 17 8. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................... 18 9. SELF-EVALUATION ASSESSMENT................................................................................. 18 10. ADDITIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES........................................................................ 19 11. REFERENCES............................................................................................................... 19 2  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. LEARNING UNIT 1: STRATEGIES OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE IN SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH Percyval Bayane 1. INTRODUCTION For society to progress, new knowledge must be generated. Science is a process of inquiry, whereby we gain knowledge by observing how things are and using our minds to logically think about what is observed. Inquiry is part of our everyday life. When we are sitting in a room and the light suddenly goes off, we go to the main electricity box to check if there is a fault or check our load-shedding schedule, to see if we are affected by load-shedding in our area. When we see black clouds building up in the sky, we know that we can expect rain. These are physical things for which we need physical evidence to answer our questions. Since we are human beings, we are more likely to interrogate what happens in the social world rather than physical things. It is therefore the social world that we constantly question, to gain a better understanding about ourselves and the world. What is the social world? Examples are provided below to help you understand what we mean by the social world: 1. When a group of employees are running to the assembly point in panic, this tells us that something bad might be happening in the building or offices, i.e., a fire. 2. When someone smiles while talking to us, we assume that they want to tell us good news or relay a positive message. The above examples deal with the interaction of people and the implications thereof. It can be concluded that the social world refers to a part of our existence that deals with how people interact with one another. In this learning unit, we aim to introduce students to the scientific approach to social research by exploring the strategies of acquiring knowledge, error in human inquiry, the role of science in social research, dominant and recent paradigms adopted by social scientists and, lastly, stages of research in the social sciences. 2. LEARNING OUTCOMES After the completion of this learning unit, you should be able to: Define the relevant key concepts such as research, scientific research, ontology and epistemology. Identify the five sources of acquiring knowledge. 3  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. Explain the errors in human inquiry. Give your own examples of the four errors in human inquiry. Differentiate between research paradigms used in social research. Outline the stages of research. 3. DEFINING KEY CONCEPTS Research refers to a scientific and systematic inquiry into the nature of, reasons for and consequences of any particular set of situations, whether these circumstances are experimentally controlled or recorded as they occur. In other words, research implies that the researcher is interested in the search for and producing knowledge about a specific phenomenon (see Babbie, 2021; Kothari, 2004). Scientific research consists of steps which the researcher follows to investigate and answer specific questions of interest about the world. In other words, scientific research begins with the researcher seeing something, formulating questions and hypotheses of interest. Once hypotheses and objectives are formulated, the researcher begins with the experiment or investigation, and writes a report and conclusions about what has been found (Kothari, 2004). Ontology refers to what a researcher considers to be reality or what exists. In other words, it is the researcher’s position which influences how they understand the world or a particular phenomenon (see Neuman, 2014). Epistemology refers to how we know what we know or the most valid ways to reach the truth about something. In other words, epistemology is the study of knowledge or concerned with the procedure used to generate knowledge (see Neuman, 2014). 4. SOURCES OF ACQUIRING GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 4.1 Tradition Each one of us inherit a culture that contains accepted knowledge of how the world operates and values guiding our participation in it. In other words, we accept what people tell us and know about the world and, by doing so, we avoid starting from scratch in search of understanding. Knowledge is cumulative and the body of knowledge we learn from the previous generations enables us to gain more information and make sense of the world. For instance, if we know that binge drinking alcohol reduces one’s driving ability, why should we disregard that and start our own investigations? Instead, we can use the knowledge that we have inherited from the previous generations to gain a better understanding of something and even find solutions to those issues, such as binge drinking alcohol and driving ability. 4  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. Although traditional knowledge enables us to learn the basics of how the world operates, it can be harmful to human inquiry. Traditional knowledge leads us not to question how information was obtained. In other words, the source of learning is not questioned and, if it appears correct and traditionally accepted, we do not see a different understanding. As such, traditional knowledge may limit us from seeing things from different perspectives and positions. Scientific thinking, therefore, has an ambiguous relationship with tradition. It is one of the norms of science that we must always be willing to re-examine our traditions and, therefore, science is critical of unthinking adherence to tradition. However, we can only get to know the world from the perspective of a tradition. In every scientific discipline, students are taught the ideas of founding thinkers and their thoughts form the basis upon which new knowledge and perspectives are discovered. Therefore, scientific discipline is based upon a tradition of thought, which builds to the development of new knowledge. 4.2 Authority As human beings, we accept knowledge and ways of doing things when we are told this by someone in position of authority. In other words, we are relying on the authority and status of a person, as a source of knowledge, about society and ways of living. A person in a position of authority is anyone who has earned that authority based on their experience and, therefore, may offer us reliable knowledge. For instance, an educator is expected to know more about their subject and assessments and can, therefore, guide learners on how to pass or excel in that subject. But relying on authority can lead to overestimating the expertise of a persons in authority; in other words, experts are sometimes wrong. Therefore, when we do not know how experts arrived at their knowledge, we should be cautious in accepting their conclusions and guidance. Let’s take an example: you want to understand why learners are failing a particular subject and decide to approach the subject educator, because they are teaching the subject and deal with learners. You may therefore accept the educator’s opinion and disregard learners’ perceptions on the matter. However, if you do consider the learners’ views, you may discover that the learners are more knowledgeable about their issues than the educator. This often happens when we unquestioningly accept authority as our source of knowledge, without thinking carefully. 4.3 Mysticism and religion Religion is accepted as a type of knowledge based upon authority of sacred texts such as the Bible and Qur’an or other supernatural sources. In African societies, traditional healers and diviners occupy a central space in the governance of people, because chiefs depend on their wisdom and guidance. Although religion is useful in providing 5  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. our lives with meaning and understanding of our place in the world, it is not a reliable guide to knowledge about the actual state of the world. In the Western world, science and religion has come into conflict a number of times. The well-known case of such conflict was that of the Italian astronomer, Galileo. In 1633, he was forced, under threat of torture by the Roman Inquisition, to retract his statement that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the sun around the earth. It was already known by the Ancient Egyptians and the Greeks that our naïve observation that the sun moves around the earth is in fact incorrect. This knowledge was lost to the Western world with the fall of the Roman Empire. Then the Church started to articulate the naïve notion, based upon the authority of a text in the Old Testament, where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, so that daylight could last longer, while he was defeating his enemies. However, through careful observation of the movement of celestial bodies, such as the planets and the stars, as well as disciplined thinking about this, it became clear to astronomers, such as Copernicus and Kepler, during the 1500s and early 1600s, that this interpretation of the sun’s movement was incorrect. The Catholic Church, at the time, interpreted these views as a challenge to their authority and the authority of the Bible, and tried to suppress their views through torture and the threat of torture. One of the results of this episode is that it became clear that, for scientific progress to take place, scientists must be allowed the freedom to pursue knowledge to wherever it may lead, even though doing so may overturn some cherished beliefs (Findlen & Marcus, 2017). 4.4 Common sense Common sense is another way of making sense of the world 1. In other words, common sense refers to the ordinary reasoning and relates to what people know through their instincts, such as when to trust a person. People make judgement about the world or something based on what ‘feels right’ for them. People might not be able to explain their feelings in a way that makes sense to others, but they believe their feelings, which guide their way of living. Therefore, common sense is valuable in everyday life, as it helps us reach decisions and solve daily problems. However, common sense consists of illogical reasoning, because it depends on individuals’ personal understanding and feeling about an issue and does not systematically consider how ideas are related to each other. Finally, common sense does not collect information systematically; hence, it originates from traditional knowledge, which is what we learn or are taught about the world and ways of living. 1 Refer to Bless et al. (2013). 6  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. 4.5 Media myths Each one of us learns about the world and develop our concepts of social reality according to what we see, hear and read in the media. Mass media, which includes television, films, newspaper, magazines and the internet, have a powerful influence on how we see and understand things, and create knowledge. The primary purpose of the media is to entertain, not present the accurate reality; hence, writers, who adapt real life for television shows and films, distort reality and often rely on tradition, authority and common sense. Newspapers and magazines writers have deadlines, which limit their information, and they cannot be specialists on every topic they write about. Mistakes may therefore be made because of ignorance. Public thinking can be changed through selective emphasis, and this can lead people into error. Activity 1.1 In your own words, write a paragraph where you define each of the five sources of acquiring knowledge and give examples to supplement your understanding of the sources of knowledge. 5. ERRORS IN HUMAN INQUIRY AND HOW SCIENTISTS AVOID THEM We have now learned where we gain basic knowledge or how we know what we know about the social world. However, we often make errors in our inquires and science helps us to guard against these errors. Babbie (2021) provides the following types of errors in human inquiry: 5.1 Inaccurate observation Prior to understanding the way things work, we must have something to understand. In other words, we need to know the what before we can explain the why. However, people tend to be careless when it comes to observing everyday events. We may not see things happening right before our eyes or, mistakenly, think we have seen something happen. An example of this is in the case of a road accident, witnesses will have different accounts of what happened. In contrast to our human and ordinary inquiries, scientific observation is a conscious activity, because, in science, we observe events deliberately. Additionally, there are both simple and complex measurement devices to prevent us from making inaccurate observations, and this will be discussed further in learning unit 8, which deals with qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. 7  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. 5.2 Overgeneralisation Overgeneralisations refers to us arriving at a general conclusion about something that we only observed a few times or in small number of cases. The use of a few and similar events to make a conclusion about something is wrong, because it means we ignore the possibility that observing additional cases may bring about different findings to our earlier observations. We all tend to overgeneralise, especially when we are under pressure, but even when we are not pressured to make a conclusion about something. For instance, students registered for a module can read other students’ informal comments about how difficult the module is and conclude that the module is indeed difficult. There is also what we call the “halo effect” which is when we look at one very good aspect of something and then overgeneralise. For instance, because we respect someone, we then overgeneralise by saying that this person is “wonderful” in all respects, giving them a proverbial ‘halo’. We prejudge their work and do not approach it by considering its merits and its faults. Whenever any form of overgeneralisation occurs, it can distort the process of inquiry. Scientists therefore guard against overgeneralisation by involving a sufficiently large sample of observation – to be explained in a learning unit focused on sampling. Furthermore, scientists use replication, which means repeating a study to check if the same results are obtained. If we obtain the same results, we can therefore generalise the findings of the study. However, if we get a different results, it will help us to avoid overgeneralisation and making incorrect conclusions. 5.3 Selective observation Overgeneralisation can lead to selective observation. When you make a conclusion about an event and why it happened in a certain way, you tend to pay attention to future events following the same pattern of events as the earlier one. In other words, you tend to overlook the situations that conflicts with the pattern of events. For example, you may find a group of students complaining about an institution and this is caused by not receiving feedback on their e-mails. Based on this, you then assume that all students at that institution, who are complaining, are facing the same problem – not receiving feedback on their e-mails. As a result, you fail to investigate what is actually happening between the institution and students, because there may be other reasons why students are complaining or not receiving feedback, such as, students sending e-mails to the incorrect department or lecturer. Science, therefore, guards against selective observation by using a research design, which specifies the number and kind of observations needed before making a conclusion. Conclusions are based 8  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. on an analysis of all the observations detailed in the research design. This will be well explained in learning units dealing with scientific research and research design. 5.4 Illogical reasoning Illogical reasons occurs when we jump to premature conclusions about something. We often feel that we have an answer about something, especially when we have access to pieces of evidence and do not seek additional evidence or information to validate our conclusions or assumptions. For example, students often do not consult the module lecturers about assignments and examination guidelines, but make conclusions or assumptions, relying on what their fellow students say. In this case, the students would have made premature conclusions and assumptions about module assignments or the examination, without seeking additional information from the module lecturers. Although all of us are prone to embarrassingly illogical reasoning in our daily life, scientists avoid this by using systems of logic consciously and explicitly. Science attempts to protect us from common pitfalls of ordinary inquiry, because accurate observation and understanding of reality is not an obvious matter in research. The four errors discussed above may lead to what is known as a premature closure of inquiry. This means that we ask questions for a short while, obtain some answers and stop our investigation too soon. As a result, our attempt to understand something stops before our understanding is complete and, therefore, the evidence for sound conclusions is inadequate. Science guards against the premature closure of inquiry with the requirement of a thorough review of the literature on the topic being researched. The review reveals the complexity of a subject and presents a wide range of information, which tends to prevent the researcher ending the inquiry before he or she has thoroughly explored all options. At its base, science is an open-ended enterprise, in which we constantly modify our conclusions. Experienced scientists expect established theories to be overturned eventually, and new conclusions to be reached as research projects progress. Activity 1.2 Which errors of human inquiry do each of the following observations represent? 1. You observe that a person from a different racial group is much more reserved than many of the friends in your own racial group. In future contacts, you continue to observe characteristics of reserve in the other racial group. You ignore more expressive behaviour, while at the same time ignoring more reserved behaviour in your own group. As a result, you end up believing that people from the other racial group tend to be more reserved than people from your own racial group. 9  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. 2. You value a theory which supports the significance of early experience on child-rearing practices. Without considering the impact of current experience, you reveal findings which indicate that early experience does indeed have a significant effect on child- rearing practices. You continue to believe your theory. 3. You are pressed for time to submit a research assignment on students’ attitudes to study methods. You interview two students you know and come to certain conclusions on the basis of their information. 6. THE DOMINANT PARADIGMS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH By now, you should know the sources and strategies of acquiring knowledge and how science helps us to be logical and avoid errors in our inquiries or research. Research is diversified, because of the complexity of social reality. In other words, we can look at a house that is burning, but have different explanations of how and why it is burning, and this will be informed by our positionality and view of things in the world, as researchers. It is therefore significant to consider researchers’ ontological 2 and epistemological 3 assumptions when doing research. In this section, you will learn about the different approaches, also referred to as paradigms 4 that inform researchers’ observations, understanding and analysis of a particular phenomenon. We are identifying paradigms that guide social scientists research and, by doing so, we will have a better understanding of the social research and get a better idea of the key issues in social sciences research. Knowing and understanding different approaches will allow you to compare these approaches systematically. There are dominant approaches to social science research namely, positivism, interpretivist and critical approach. These are traditional approaches to social sciences research, but there are additional and recent approaches that will also be discussed, namely feminist, postmodernism and postcolonialism. In this section, you are introduced to the basic arguments and positions in different paradigms and approaches to social science research. 6.1 Positivism The term, ‘positivism’, comes from 19th century writers, such as Auguste Comte, who believed that scientific truth could be positively verified through empirical observations and the logical analysis of what we observe. Positivists argue that reality exists 2 Ontology refers to what a researcher considers to be reality or exists. In other words, it is the researcher’s position which influences how they understand the world or a particular phenomenon (see Neuman, 2014). 3 Epistemology refers to how we know what we know or most valid ways to reach the truth about something (see Neuman, 2014). 4 Approaches and paradigms are used interchangeably, because the two words speaks to the similar thing. Paradigm is a model and framework for observation and understanding that shapes what we see and how we understand it (see Babbie, 2021). 10  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. independently of humans, as it is not influenced by our sense, but governed by immutable laws. What this means is that, as individuals, we do not have an influence on what is observed or happens in the world. The ontological position of positivists is realism, and they strive to understand the social world like the natural world. The natural world is focused on the cause-effect relationship and, once identified, it is used to predict human behaviour and the future. The epistemological position of positivists is objectivism, meaning researchers are objective in studying something that exists independently of them, and they do not have an impact on what is being observed (Rehman & Alharthi, 2016; Babbie, 2021). So, positivists believe the above applies in the social world. In other words, they believe that social sciences should be studied in the same way as natural sciences. Positivists argue that reality is context free, as multiple researchers can conduct a research project, at different times and in different places, but will come to the same conclusions about what is being studied (Rehman & Alharthi, 2016; Babbie, 2021). For positivists, all knowledge is based on facts, which are empirically established, and it is crucial for researchers to approach social reality in a neutral, value-free, detached and systematic way. Methodological tools are developed to collect evidence that is observable and measurable. Standardised procedures are followed to study particular events and learn about their interconnections. These procedures further ensure a detached approach that will represent social reality accurately and free from bias (Babbie, 2021; Leavy, 2017). In simple terms, positivists believe that social sciences and the world should be perceived and studied in the same way as natural sciences. However, positivism has been criticised as a paradigm, because others believe that social reality is made of human existence and experiences. In other words, researchers have an impact on how a phenomenon is studied and reported, because of their position and influence on what is observed. Furthermore, positivism methodology, which is normally quantitative, is also criticised for relying on experimentation and generating numerical data, rather than in-depth experiences and perceptions of human beings of the social world (Rehman & Alharthi, 2016). The criticism of positivism paradigm is the reason we have other approaches/paradigms, such as interpretivism, discussed below. 6.2 Interpretivism Interpretivism, also referred to as constructivism, was introduced in response to the over-dominance of positivism. Interpretivists believe that social reality is inherently meaningful. People have the ability to interpret a situation and decide how to act in response to this situation. By consciously participating in a situation, they attribute 11  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. meaning to that situation. Meaning is constructed through human beings interacting with each other and playing a central role in defining a situation, to make sense of it. These meanings are generated in a social process and shared intersubjectively. Intersubjective literally means to be shared between subjects and by subjects – by this we mean conscious individuals, that is, people who are aware of what happens around them and who can act with a purpose in mind. Patterns and regularities in behaviour emerge from the social conventions established by purposefully interacting human beings. These patterns emerge from an intersubjective understanding of the meaningfulness of a situation (Leavy, 2017). Interpretivists argue that the purpose of research is to make social reality intelligible and reveal its inherent meaningfulness. Meaningful actions need to be understood from within. This requires studying how social reality is experienced, interpreted and understood. In this respect, interpretivists claim that there is no external social reality, separate from the consciousness of people. Social reality is created through the conscious actions of human beings. For instance, interpretivists believe that researchers are part of the social reality being researched and not detached from the subject being studied. This is unlike the natural world, which exists, irrespective of whether there are people around or not. Interpretive social scientists argue that there is no basis for using the same methods as the natural sciences. They insist that social reality differs fundamentally from natural reality and, to explain social actions, we need to first understand the meaningfulness of social reality (Rehman & Alharthi, 2016). But, how do interpretivists access the meaningfulness of social reality? They argue that researchers have to be sensitive to the social context in which meaning is produced. Social reality is approached from the perspective of the human beings, who actively construct reality. One useful strategy is to pay attention to common sense, because it provides insight into human beings’ own understanding of their situation. Paying attention to human beings’ understanding of their own situation enables researchers to see how people construct and understand these situations intuitively. Value-freedom, neutrality or detachment is of little use to the interpretive researcher, since there is no external reality independent of the particular context in which meaning is attributed. Interpretivists see values as an integral part of social reality and emphasise that they should be acknowledged as such (Leavy, 2017; Rehman & Alharthi, 2016). 6.3 Critical theory approach Critical social scientists believe that social reality is multi-layered. In other words, there are more dimensions to social reality than what initially appear to us. Therefore, it is 12  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. crucial to move from the way social reality present itself to the underlying mechanisms by which social reality is maintained. We need to penetrate the layers of social reality and uncover the underlying relationships that shape society. These relationships are the mechanisms that result in inequality and exploitation within a society, but they are frequently masked by external appearances. The reason why we do not ordinarily see the real, exploitative nature of society is that we perceive it through a framework constructed for us by institutions such as the mass media. The mass media serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful in society. As a result, our attention is diverted from the real problems of society. We are led to believe that the inequalities of the world are natural, and that there is nothing we can do about them. How then can we get to know this multi-layered social reality? Critical social scientists argue that positivist social scientists’ emphasis on discovering objective facts that are observable and measurable is misguided, because social reality cannot be taken only at its face value. Critical social scientists claim that observable surface structures seldom coincide with reality. This is why critical social scientists rely on theory. Their theory provides models that reveal the hidden structures that determine the key characteristics of social reality. By using the logic and reasoning of theories, researchers can work out the implications of the underlying, hidden dynamics of social reality. They can then predict how the consequences of these hidden dynamics will reveal themselves in observable surface structures. According to critical social scientists, empirically observed patterns are the evidence that points to the underlying mechanisms. When observations confirm the predictions made by theory, researchers are more confident that these unobservable structures do, in fact, exist. Note that critical social scientists do not reject facts, but argue that the truth of social reality goes beyond empirical (observable) facts (Rehman & Alharthi, 2016). Critical social scientists also believe that the interpretive approach perpetuates the myths of social reality by reducing it to common sense interpretation and understanding. This is because common sense understandings are contaminated by a false consciousness, according to critical social scientists. They do not reject attempts to understand common-sense ideas, but they warn that these are only partial and incomplete. For critical social scientists, understanding of the subjective experiences of human beings cannot be the end goal of social science. Instead, science should examine the unexamined, taken-for-granted reality in which we live and critically reflect on it. Hence, critical social scientists believe that critical and reflective researchers should actively engage on a subject matter. Objectivity is not a goal, because researchers are committed to challenging inequalities and domination. In order to emancipate human beings from the ideology that sustains their false consciousness, they need to be made aware of the underlying mechanisms that structure their daily 13  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. lives. This awareness of the real nature of social reality will empower human beings to work towards meaningful social change and transformation (Sarantakos, 2005). 6.4 Feminist approach The primary goal of feminist researchers has been to demonstrate how academic research in the social sciences is male-orientated. Women are usually invisible and marginalised, and this relates to power. Feminists claim that much research in the social sciences is done by the powerful, for their own benefit. Male perspectives do not only influence the way social reality is defined, but also how it is known. Researchers, who examine the social world from a feminist paradigm, have called attention to aspects of social life that other paradigms do not reveal (Parry, 2020; Kiguwa, 2019). In fact, feminism has established significant theoretical paradigms for social research and focus on gender differences and how it relates to the social organisation. The feminist paradigm draw attention to the oppression of women in many societies. Feminist paradigms do not only focus on the treatment of women or female experiences of oppression, but they also point out the limitations in how other aspects of social life are examined (Babbie, 2021). It can be suggested that feminist researchers are critical of the positivist approach. What alternative do feminist researchers provide? Ontologically, feminists introduce “gender” as a key category of social analysis. By emphasising gender, feminists are hopeful to bring the power and subordination aspects of the relationships between women and men into play. This allows women’s issues to be introduced into academic discourse and serve as a basis for fostering the emancipation of women. Many feminist researchers attempt to approach their studies in an inclusionary, collaborative and non-impositional way (Parry, 2020). Hence, feminist research, to an extent, cut across interpretative and critical social science approach, because it considers the role and influence researchers have in how the social world and reality is viewed and understood (Kiguwa, 2019). 6.5 Postmodernism Postmodern research is an approach to research that claims that there is no such thing as absolute truth, and no particular theory of method is better than another in determining the truth. The broad postmodern movement in the arts, humanities and social sciences questions the core values, goals and bases of analysis that have guided research and have been assumed to be universally valid, at least in the past century. Postmodernism challenges the belief in the rationality, certainty and progress 14  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. associated with science. All three of the dominant approaches to social science, discussed above, are located within the realm of modernity 5: 1. Positivists aim to discover the causal patterns in an independent external reality. 2. Interpretivists make sense of intentionally constructed and intersubjectively shared meaning systems in social contexts. 3. Critical social scientists uncover the multiple layers of social reality, to reveal its true nature and, thus, facilitate transformation. In this respect, they assume that it is possible to examine and explain the structure and meaning of social action. These approaches to research believe that it makes little sense to conduct research, if we cannot assume that there is some pattern or regularity that we can make sense of. Postmodernists, however, argue that there is no “stable” or “coherent” subject matter to study. Postmodernism challenges any research that attempts to provide a general or “better” explanation of social reality. Postmodernists claim that social scientists’ understanding, and explanation of social reality, cannot claim greater validity than any other view of social reality. In other words, postmodernism offers an emphasis on difference, which means the belief that we should provide scope for everybody to offer their narratives of how the world has developed and is progressing. Therefore, postmodernism rejects reason as a foundation of knowledge. The diversity and fragmentation of discourses on social reality is celebrated, and postmodernism makes no claims of objectivity or a universal truth. Rather, there are multiple truths and all discourses, i.e., views, debates and opinions, are seen to be culturally constituted within particular social and historical contexts. Science is therefore one of many discourses and cannot claim to give us final “answers” about the social world and reality. 6.6 Postcolonialism To understand postcolonialism, we begin with postcolonialists’ view of social reality. Postcolonialists believe that the colonial experience of conquest and domination, in which European countries colonised people on the continents of Africa, Asia and the Americas, is central to our understanding of social reality. This history created an unequal relationship between the colonist and the colonised, which continues today, despite the fact that there are no longer any colonies left in the world. Europeans (the colonisers of a previous age) see themselves and their culture as the norm, against which all other cultures are defined. 5 Modernity is a belief in rationality and progress associated with confidence in science and technology. 15  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. Europeans justify this view with reference to the rise of the modern world in Europe, in the 18th and 19th centuries. This change came about as a result of the Enlightenment – a philosophical movement emphasising reason, as opposed to tradition and religion, as the basis of our view of the world. The Enlightenment also placed the individual person at the centre stage, and defended the rights of the individual, relative to that of the group. This thinking found expression in the French and American revolutions, which created the first democratic societies in which all citizens had the right to vote. These changes, combined with the industrial revolution, which started in England and led to an enormous increase in productivity, due to the employment of new power sources such as coal and electricity, and the use of machinery. The Enlightenment, democracy and the Industrial Revolution, together, created complex changes that later became known as modernity (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2014). In other words, Europeans see modernity as their own creation. Colonised groups are defined as lacking modernity and, therefore, deficient when viewed against Europeans (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2014). This simplistic view of the world reduces it to sets of binary opposites, with European reason contrasted with the mythical and traditional thinking of the colonised, European democracy contrasted with the autocracy of the colonised, and European progress compared with the stagnation and backward-looking nature of the colonised. Postcolonial theorists believe that this view is oversimplified and an unfair characterisation of the previously colonised people. Much of the knowledge that has been created up to now in the social sciences is biased, because it represents the views of the colonisers about the colonised. The colonisers were the subjects of knowledge, those who make the knowledge, and the colonised were merely the objects of knowledge, in other words, the people about whom the knowledge was formulated, without them having any role in creating this knowledge. Postcolonial thinkers believe that this has to change, so that those who have been marginalised can become subjects (creators) of knowledge in their own right. For this to happen, it is necessary, however, that the power relations in knowledge institutions such as universities are decolonised, so that Eurocentric knowledge is no longer regarded unquestioningly as the dominant kind of knowledge (Bhambra, 2014; Mamdani, 2019). Activity 1.3 In your own words, write at least two paragraphs defining each paradigm or approach to social science research, and focus on the primary characteristics, such as their ontological and epistemological views of the social world and reality, and research (knowledge production). 16  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. 7. STAGES IN RESEARCH In the study guide, we will be taking you through steps and stages of conducting research in the social sciences. The research process and steps are guided by the research problem at hand and best research results are achieved, based on a careful planning of the whole process. Accordingly, the research process involves four stages, which we present in the subheadings and diagram below. These four stages overlap and influence one another. They begin with a plan and end with a report of results. 1. Stage 1 involves the definition of the problem. 2. Stage 2 involves obtaining the information. 3. Stage 3 involves analysing and interpreting the information. 4. Stage 4 involves communicating the results. STAGE 1 Unit 9 Unit 1, 3, & 4 REPORT PLAN STAGE 4 Research problem Unit 8 Analysing and interpreting qualitative data Literature review Describing and interpreting Theory STAGE 3 quantitative data Assumptions Hypothesis Data collection Unit 2 & 5 Unit 7 Research questions Unit 6 Sampling Ethics STAGE 2 DIAGRAM 1.1 Stages in research Stage 1: Defining the problem — research problem — literature review 17  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. — theory — assumptions — research design or plan — hypothesis — research questions — Ethical considerations Stage 2: Obtaining the information — sampling — data collection Stage 3: Analysing and interpreting information — describing and interpreting quantitative data — describing and interpreting qualitative data Stage 4: Communicating results — This involves writing the research report. 8. CONCLUSIONS In this learning unit, students were introduced to the scientific approach to social research. As human beings, we gain basic knowledge about the social world from sources such as tradition, authority, mysticism and religion, common sense and media myths. We have learned that the above sources help us to know what we know about the social world. However, we often make errors in our inquiries and this include making inaccurate observations, overgeneralisations, selective observations and using illogical reasoning. Hence, science and the scientific approach to social research helps us to guard against making such errors, which lead to premature closure of an inquiry in research. The learning unit further introduced students to the dominant and recent paradigms or approaches in social research, which guide researchers in the process of inquiry. It is important to remember that ontology and epistemology guide researchers to analyse and understand what is being studied in the process of inquiry. 9. SELF-EVALUATION ASSESSMENT This section aims to test your level of understanding of the content presented in this learning unit. Are you able to define and discuss, in your own words, the five sources of acquiring knowledge? Are you able to differentiate between the five sources of acquiring knowledge? 18  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. Are you able to define and discuss the four errors in human inquiry? Are you able to give your own examples of the four errors in human inquiry? Are you able to differentiate between ontology and epistemology? Are you able to define and discuss the dominant and recent paradigms in social research? Are you able to differentiate between the research paradigms or approaches in social research? Are you able to list the stages of research? Are you able to list all the steps under each stage of research? 10. ADDITIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES This section aims to enhance your learning experience on some of the learning outcomes addressed in this learning unit. Please use the links below, to watch the YouTube videos, after reading the learning unit and answering the self-evaluation assessment questions. YouTube links https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QkVqT3EPyk – Positivism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FybkUMplAlI – What is interpretivism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx9JM1gcc3E – Critical theory paradigm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkcqGU7l_zU – Ontology, Epistemology and Paradigm OERs/Articles http://41.89.240.73/bitstream/handle/embuni/3797/2155.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 11. REFERENCES Babbie, E. 2021. The practice of social research (15th ed.). Boston: Cengage. Bless, C., Higson-Smith, C., & Sithole, S. L. 2013. Fundamentals of social research method: An African perspective (5th ed.). xxx: Juta. Bhambra, G.K. 2014. Postcolonial and decolonial dialogues. Postcolonial Studies, 17 (2): 115- 121. DOI: 10.1080/13688790.2014.966414 Kiguwa, P. 2019. Feminist approaches: An exploration of women’s gendered experiences. In: S. Laher, A. Fynn & S. Kramer (Eds.), Transforming research methods. Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press. 19  Learning unit 1 | RSC2601 Strategies of acquiring knowledge in social sciences research. Kothari, C.R. 2004. Research methodology: Methods and techniques (2nd ed.). New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. Findlen, P & Marcus, H. 2017. The breakdown of Galileo's Roman network: Crisis and community, ca. 1633. Social Studies of Science, 47(3): 326-252. Leavy, P. 2017. Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based and community-based participatory research approaches. New York: The Guilford Press. Mamdani, M. 2019. Decolonising universities. In: Jansen, J.D. (ed.), Decolonisation in universities: The politics of knowledge. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/22019083351 Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S.J. 2014. Global coloniality and the challenges of creating African futures. Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 36 (2): 181-202. Neuman, W.L. 2014. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approach (7th ed.). Edinburgh Gate: Pearson. Rehman, A.A & Alharthi, K. 2016. An introduction to research paradigms. International Journal of Educational Investigations, 3 (8): 51-59. Parry, B. 2020. Feminist research principles and practices. In: S. Kramer, S. Laher, A. Fynn, & H. H. Janse van Vuuren (eds.), Online readings in research methods. Psychological Society of South Africa: Johannesburg. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ BNPFS. Sarantakos, S. 2005. Social research. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. 20