Research Paradigms Lecture 6 PDF

Research Paradigms Dr. Mehreen Khan Assistant Professor  Methods of Acquiring Knowledge Methods of acquiring knowledge Two main methods Empiricism Rationalism Knowledge gained by sensory...

Research Paradigms Dr. Mehreen Khan Assistant Professor  Methods of Acquiring Knowledge Methods of acquiring knowledge Two main methods Empiricism Rationalism Knowledge gained by sensory Knowledge gained by reasoning experience (using inductive (using deductive reasoning) reasoning)  Inductive Reasoning (the Empiricist’s Approach) Derive a general principle from specific Commonly used observations by us in everyday life. We come to conclusions from Experience or General Rule or Belief what we have observation Conclusion seen or experienced and All the Therefore I I believe that then generalize giraffes that I conclude all giraffes them and set have seen that all have long them up as a have very giraffes have necks belief long necks long necks Important We should ensure that we make a large number of observations, we repeat them under a large range of circumstances and conditions before concluding anything Deductive Reasoning (the Rationalist’s approach) Start with a hypothesis which should be falsifiable i.e. it must be logically possible to make true observational Draw a specific conclusion from a general statements which conflict with the hypothesis, and thus principle can falsify it. General statement More specific Conclusion through statement a logical argument All living things This animal is a Therefore, this will eventually living thing animal will die eventually die Research paradigm “Set of common beliefs and agreements shared between scientists about how problems should be understood and addressed” “A research paradigm is an approach to conducting a research that has been verified by the research community and that has been in practice for a long period of time” Key questions in Research Paradigm  Ontology Ontology What is reality? Belief about reality Realist Relativist Realist Relativist There is one single truth or reality which is Multiple realities exist absolute Truth/reality is socially constructed (created by people, how they see things) Truth does not change with context. Truth is context dependent Once you find out the truth you can You can not generalize truth because it is context generalize it to other situations dependent i.e. it evolves and changes depending upon your experiences  Epistemology Epistemology How can i know reality? How do we get knowledge? How do we discover things? Ontological beliefs will dictate epistemological ETIC EMIC beliefs approach approach ETIC Approach EMIC Approach Truth or reality is out there waiting to be discovered using objective measurements e.g. Effect of a Reality is subjective pesticide on kidneys of fish? Researcher needs to stay outside of the research so Reality needs to be interpreted. You need to dig they can get an objective measurement deep, talk to people e.g. challenges faced due to ban of plastic bags EMIC approach. Interacting with people to find out ETIC approach. Taking an outsiders view of a situation what truth means to them in order to gain an in depth understanding  Methodology How do you go about finding the knowledge? Methodology can be determined based on the ontological and epistemological beliefs that led to them. Experimental research, survey research, phenomenological research, action research, grounded theory  Types of Research Paradigms Research When you combine ontology and Paradigms epistemology, you get a holistic view of how you understand knowledge. This is what we mean when we refer to a research paradigm Interpretivism/ Positivism Pragmatism Constructivism Paradigm Ontology Epistemology Methodology Methods Positivism There is one single Knowledge/reality Experimental Usually reality/truth out can be measured- research quantitative there using scientific Survey research Statistical, methods Questionnaire, Constructivism/ Interpretivism There are multiple Knowledge needs to Ethnography, realities be interpreted to grounded theory, Usually qualitative Positivism, discover underlying phenomenological meanings research Participant observation Constructivism Case study & Pragmatism Pragmatism Reality is constantly Knowledge should Mixed-methods Combination of negotiated, debated be examined using any of the or interpreted whatever tools are above best suited to solve the problem  Examples Interpretivism Positivism Effectiveness of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Thailand: a case study of a Potash mine HIA in Udon Thani, Thailand, PhD Thesis Effect of carbon dioxide concentrations on coral reefs growth In what ways (how) do people use HIA and why do they use it? What are the major factors influencing the effectiveness of HIA implementation referring to the case study, and why? - How can we improve the effectiveness of HIA in the Thai context? Effect of lockdown on PM 2.5 concentrations Strengthening the Practitioner Focus in Environmental Assessment, PhD Thesis How do practitioners think and act when seeking possibilities to influence practice?