Order 1246661: Business Research Methods
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W2Researchphilosophies-Theinterpretivistandotherparadigms.pptxResearch philosophies
Dr Jo Cartwright
Outline for today
Theoretical approaches – deduction and induction
Epistemological considerations – positivism and interpretivism
Research strategy: quantitative or qualitative
Exercises
Diagnosing your research philosophy
Bryman 1984 – the link between research philosophy and choice of qualitative and quantitative research methods
Poster presentation – how qualitative research methods reflect an interpretivist epistemology
NEXT WEEK – 5 ARTICLES!
Introduction into the nature of business research
The methods of business research are closely tied with different philosophical perspectives on how organisational reality should be studied
Methods are not simply neutral tools - they are linked to how social scientists envisage social reality and how it should be examined
Deductive theory
Deductive theory is the most common view of the relationship between theory and research
The researcher, on the basis of what is known about a domain, deduces a hypothesis that must be subjected to empirical scrutiny
They must skilfully deduce a hypothesis and then translate it into operational terms
Theory and hypothesis come first, and drive the process of gathering data
Inductive theory
In some research, no attempt is made to develop a hypothesis or theory in the first instance
The research is primarily inductive because the theory is an outcome of the research
Theory is developed from the process of observing the findings
The process does involve some deduction – once the data is gathered they may wish to gather further data
This process is known as iterative as it involves going back and forth between data and theory
Particularly useful for generating new theory
Epistemology
‘The theory of knowledge’ or ‘the best way to gather data’
Epistemological considerations
An epistemological issue concerns the question of what is (or should be) regarded as acceptable knowledge in a discipline
A particularly important question is whether or not organisations, employment and HRM can or should be studies according the same principles as the natural sciences
A positivist would say ‘yes’ whereas an interpretivist would say ‘no’
Which approach
Depending on which approach you adapt, there will be an impact on the research design and methods
Sometimes the methods you choose first and then ‘work backwards’ to ascertain which epistemological ‘home’ your methods belong to
Positivism
Known as the ‘scientific method’
The aim is to describe, test, explain and predict
Knowledge must be testable – focus is often on testing relationships e.g. the correlation between retention and management styles
Research must be deductive i.e. hypothesis driven
These should be developed from the literature
Positivism
Relies on the following principles:
Only phenomena and hence knowledge confirmed by the senses can be genuinely warranted as knowledge
The purpose of theory is to generate hypotheses that can be tested and that will allow explanations of laws to be assessed
Knowledge is arrived at by gathering facts that provide the basis of laws
Science must and can be conducted in a way that is value free, or objective
There is a clear distinction between scientific statements and normative statements and the former are the true domain of the scientist
Positivism
Associated with quantitative methods e.g. questionnaires to gather large amounts of numerical data
Data is subjected to statistical types of data analysis e.g. correlations and significance testing
This analysis ‘tests’ the hypothesis and confirms or rejects it
Claims to ‘generalisability’
Interpretivism
Interpretivism is a contrasting epistemology
It is based on the view that a strategy is required that respects the differences between people and the objects of the natural sciences
It therefore requires the social scientist to grasp the subjective meaning of social action
It is concerned with the empathetic understanding of human action and the meaning attached by those involved in social action
Inductive theoretical approaches tend to be associated with an interpretivist epistemology
Interpretivism
The world/ reality is not subjective rather than objective; reality is socially constructed
The researcher is *part of* what is observed (research can never be really value free)
They would argue that even positivist inspired research requires that quantitative data is ultimately subject to some form of human interpretation and analysis.
Human interests not only guide the way we think, they impact on the structures of work and authority and condition the way we inquire into and construct our knowledge of the world
Social constructivism
Based in the interpretive paradigm
Differs from the positivist paradigm which assumes objectivity and uniformity of experience.
Instead reality (our notion of it) is constructed through the meanings we attribute to experiences
‘Social realities and identities are created and maintained in social interactions rather than in structures.... Language does not describe the world, it is the world because it shapes how we see, act and experience our world’ (Cunliffe 2009:60)
Social constructivism
Feminists (for example) start with the idea of gender as a ‘social construction’ rather than a natural characteristic of human beings...
Race, hierarchy, class, cultural norms, religious dictates are all examples of the ways in which the world has been and continues to be constructed by people.
Impact on research
Research based in a phenomenological, interpretivist paradigm:
Focuses on meanings,
Prioritises the context & environment
Creates open ended research questions (rather than hypothesis testing).
Develops theory and concepts from induction
Prefers qualitative methods.
Advantages and disadvantages
Good at understanding meanings
Good at adjusting to emerging ideas
Can create new insights
Data collection can be time consuming
Analysis not easy
Low credibility from some quarters
Can be seen as untidy /inconclusive
Two approaches to knowledge creation
Researcher: distant or involved?
Large samples or 'small' samples
Building knowledge through deduction or induction....
Violence at work & stress levels of staff (Saunders et al. 2009, p.128)
Positivist study
Hypothesis - staff working with public more likely to experience threat of violence & resultant stress
At risk population?
Survey large sample of staff to measure 2 variables & relation between them
Interpretivist study
Develop research questions
Identify group who have experienced violence at work
Interview staff from this group
Learn about feelings, coping strategies & views about possible causes.
Which approach to apply?
Layder (1993) lists four main considerations when selecting research methods: the nature of the research problem or topic, the methods traditionally thought to be appropriate, the availability and accessibility of data, and the resources at the researcher’s disposal.
It is the first of these that is most important – what kind of data do you need to collect to address your research aims? What is the form or nature of this data (objective, subjective, quantifiable, not quantifiable....)
What about mixing methods?
Triangulation of method
Example: using a questionnaire to survey a large audience and also conducting interviews with a small select sample
Philosophical position is known as :
Pragmatism (Saunders et al)
Relativism (Easterby Smith)
Conventionalism (Johnson & Duberley)
Pragmatism
An argument against mixing methods is that research methods have ‘epistemological commitments’ and that using opposing methods can cause problems at a theoretical level’ (Easterby- Smith, 2003)
Pragmatism
However, Bryman and Bell (2003) argue that too much weight is placed on epistemological connections to research methods and that there is a ‘growing preparedness to think of research methods as techniques of data collection or analysis that are not encumbered by epistemological baggage as is supposed’
Pragmatism
Indeed, Saunders et al (2007) refer to their ‘research onion’ whereby epistemological concerns are in the outer layer which is peeled away and forgotten as people are interested in the inner detail of real-life data collection and data accumulation.
Quantitative and qualitative methods
Quantitative methods generate, analyse and interpret numerical data
More likely to be used by researchers applying positivist approach
Issues of reliability, consistency and replicability
Qualitative methods generate, analyse and interpret textual data
More likely to be used by researchers applying an interpretive approach
Used to gain insights into meaning systems and sense-making activities of social actors
Exercise
Read handout – diagnosing your research philosophy
Bryman 1984
What are the characteristics of positivism according to Bryman? What examples does he give of these characteristics in terms of the questionnaire instrument? P77
What are the philosophical characteristics of qualitative research? p77-78
What ‘type’ of data does qualitative research produce in contrast to quantitative? P79
Why are qualitative techniques said to be more ‘sensitive’ than quantitative techniques? Consider a research project where this might be useful P81-82
Why are qualitative techniques useful as a form of ‘preparation’? Consider an example of research where this might be useful P 84
What is Bryman’s argument in relation to whether quantitative research is ‘better’ than qualitative research? What does he suggest is a better way of thinking about the contrasting research strategies and their relative effectiveness? P79-80
What have you learnt from this piece of work?
Exercise
You have been asked to take a class on research methodology. Create a poster presentation educating your fellow students how a qualitative research strategy reflects the interpretivist epistemological position.
Next week – literature reviews, aims/objectives
Read chapters 4 and 5 in Bryman and Bell 2015
Bring 5-10 key academic references (ideally journal articles) to construct a literature review analysis….
Next week’s task
Consider the key words or phrases that underpin a potential research project of your choice
Next identify some initial key academic references (between 5 and 10)
Should be in relation to your topic
May include classic sources, some new/cutting edge, empirical or conceptual etc.
Explain and justify your selection i.e. what is the paper about and what is the contribution to your research project
This may mean briefly outlining your proposed research project in a few sentences about.
You may wish to identify any links you see between the selection of papers – e.g. contrasting perspectives or methodologies
You may wish to outline any gaps in your selection of papers i.e. further areas of research (conceptual debates, methodologies, research contexts, specific authors/articles) you wish
May wish to start constructing into a table format – identify paper, what is it about? Methods? What is the contribution/how does it relate to my proposed study?
