Evaluation Of A Research Project

With this lesson, we begin a new unit on epistemology, which is the philosophical study of knowledge claims. In this first lesson on epistemology, we begin by examining the question “What do we mean when we say we know something?” What exactly is knowledge? We will begin with a presentation that introduces the traditional definition of knowledge. Wood then discusses some of the basic issues raised in the study of epistemology and then presents an approach to epistemology that focuses on obtaining the intellectual virtues, a point we will elaborate on in the next lesson.

Theories are the organized concepts that help to define or understand behaviors, relationships or a phenomenon (Green, 2014). Thus, theories are the foundation of scholarly research and act as an outline to carry out a study. They are used to process and analyzing data and contribute to knowledge in literature and practice (Green, 2014; Udo-Akang, 2012). Theories are used to guide research but are also utilized in a parallel process with research to explain and to predict, explain problems, events, systems, and experiences (Udo-Akang, 2012). In a wraparound effect, studies help to advancement theories through the application of the framework to the research methodology (Green, 2014; Udo-Akang, 2012). The theory and its constructs guide the research design (Green, 2014; Udo-Akang, 2012). Existing theories are said to most likely

Positivism and interpretivism are two approaches of interpreting social reality, that each employ different methods of research and data collection to better help understand the study of human lived experiences. The positivist-interpretivist debate revolves around the ways in which human behavior should be conceptualized and studied (Pruss 1996: 4). Positivism is the most widely practiced research approach in social science, which regards the nature of social reality independent of consciousness. Positivists believe social reality can be studied independently from the researcher and that social life can be represented using numbers that according to positivists reveal features of social reality. On the other hand, interpretivists favor partipcant observation, interviews and social interaction where the researcher immerses into the informant’s reality to gain knowledge of their everyday human lived experiences.

Researchers need to clarify the underline theory assumptions, particularly in action or qualitative research, so as to be transparent and effective.

Everyone knows that when you plan on building anything you need the proper foundations to support whatever you plan on building. Whether you are building with Legos or actual wood, having the right foundation is important. To understand what a worldview is, one must first define it. According to Hiles and Smith (2014), a worldview “is a foundational set of assumptions to which one commits that serves as a framework for understanding and interpreting reality and deeply shapes one’s behavior”. This foundation starts at the very moment someone is born because “worldviews begin to form before people are aware that they are trusting in anything” (Hiles and Smith, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to discover the

Worldviews are depicted as solutions to clarify the phenomenon we experience. Groothuis gives criteria for assessing worldviews like they were hypotheses about the world.13

5. Were the assumptions and data collection procedures congruent? Research was based on actual real events it is important to collect data enough to support this study, most of the cases are volunteered participants that are open to talk about their experiences.

Research methodology and methodological approaches that is, the structured process of conducting research and the overall concepts and theories which underpin research respectively (Bryman, 2008), occupy a central position in the research process as they are both shaped by and translate the researcher’s epistemological position. Epistemology then refers to a researcher’s philosophical stance about the nature, derivation and scope of knowledge (Gilbert, 2008). These positions are seldom ‘spelt out’ but rather understood in the matter of research methodology and approach (Sarantakos, 2005).

28). Every aspect of the research process is influenced by epistemology, it guides the researcher in justifying the research methods (Carter & Little, 2007; Kramer-Kile, 2012), as it is asking what is knowledge, and how can that knowledge be acquired.

Assumptions are often made about drugs; furthermore, assumptions about business are made almost as frequently. Often what seems obvious from any ideological perspective will become more complex upon further examination; in other words, the truth is nearly impossible to find if your faith is not in philosophical harmony with art, science, history and the truth as we best have knowledge of it today. Understanding the need for substantive discourse is an excellent first step towards finding the truth.

In this study therefore there will be an analysis of how beliefs and experience relate to

Research paradigms are ‘the entire constellation of beliefs, values, techniques, and so on shared by members of a given community’ (Kuhn, 1970, p.175). The three most common paradigms are positivism, constructivism or interpretivism and pragmatism. Each of these can be categorised further by examining their: ontology, epistemology and methodology. Fundamentally, ontology is the nature of reality, epistemology describes the relationship the investigator has with their version of reality, and methodology is the various techniques and tools used to analysis their research.

Undoubtedly, there is an unswerving relationship between the theory and its application. Theory offers direction in research, and its application affords a baseline for research. In the following text, the relationship between theory and application and the manner in which a theory guides practices is espoused upon. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to show how research and theory are connected and how both serve as models for good practice in finding the appropriate information that allows investigators to resolve issues and to solve research problems, while also adding to the world’s body of knowledge (Akang, 2012).

Paradigms represent beliefs about the nature of reality and the ways in which we create knowledge (Esterberg, Kristin G., 2002). These paradigms are not provable and therefore, one cannot prove that one paradigm is better than another (Esterberg, Kristin G., 2002). The choices a researcher make about paradigms also shape the research strategies they think they should use, and the relationship one sees between theory and data (Esterberg, Kristin G., 2002).

Feminist interaction with the philosophy of science, and in particular a feminist interpretation of epistemology, concerns the extent to which bias influences and shapes knowledge within the scientific community, and means to rectify this. There are three main distinctions of feminist philosophy of science - feminist empiricism, standpoint theory, and postmodernism. I am to be comparing and contrasting two of the three, specifically feminist standpoint theory and empiricism. I shall argue that standpoint theory and empiricism are both legitimate methods for feminist epistemology, yet standpoint theory is a more applicable and plausible method for the analysis of science in particular. I will first explain the main tenets of the feminist philosophy of science, going on to then explain reasons why standpoint theory and postmodernism are legitimate tools of analysis in their own right, and then evaluate their legitimacy.