A Research Study On Research Philosophy

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1.0 Research Philosophy
Research Philosophy is described as a belief about principles according to which data about a phenomenon ought to be gathered, analysed and utilised. There are two main perspectives that will be discussed: positivism and interpretivism. Remenyi et al. 1998 state that positivists prefer ‘working with an observable social reality and that the end product of such research can be law-like generalisations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists.’ In this case, the researcher does not get involved with the environment. The results of positivist research will most often result in quantifiable observations. Interpretivists on the other hand, believe that the reality can only ever be completely…show more content…
Cottrell (2015) as well as many other researchers agree that the choice of the appropriate research philosophy depends on the field of study and the chosen question. In my area of research, the positivist approach appears to be more appropriate choice than interpretivist.

2.0 Research approach

Bryman and Bell (2008) suggest that there are two main research approaches to consider before undertaking a research: deductive and inductive. Deductive approach concentrates on creating a theory and hypothesis and then testing this hypothesis. Inductive approach on the other hand, concentrates on testing the data and based on the results, creating a theory. For my area of research, I feel that it would be the most appropriate to use deductive approach. While this approach puts an emphasis on the explanation of the relationship between different variables. That would prove to be useful to answer my research objective to understand what are the motives for people to attend music festivals. As well as that, deductive approach is more appropriate due to the time limitations imposed on my research. Inductive approach often involves a long period of data collection and analysis. Finally, deductive approach is lower in risk than inductive. There is a possibility that inductive approach will result in failure to develop a theory due to the lack of useful research findings.

3.0 Research strategies

Cresswell (2009) distinguishes three different research tools:
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