The Role Of Ontology And Epistemology

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.

Post-Positivist see issues from a perspective that knowledge is key. Post-Positivist have to have a strong base to start from. The example from class was that it is like a pyramid, in order to be able to come to a conclusion or the top of the pyramid they must establish a strong base. This base is made out of research. “Reality is something that we can understand and capture probabilistically using the right tools” (Schriver, 2011:126). They believe that with the right about of research they can come to an answer that fits best.

According to Rayner (2011, p. 258), epistemological structures reflects academic values, beliefs and idea of knowledge. They are used by researchers to interpret and re-interpret domain discipline. Knowledge acquisition can be sourced through perception, introspection, reason, testimony and memory (Steup, 2005). Old school researchers think of epistemology as the science of testing hypothesis. This traditional way proposes that researchers known as empiricist should first collect information then propose hypothesis, and then test the hypothesis objectively using statistical data. However, epistemology is about different ways of inquiring into the nature of the physical and the social worlds. And the result of the debates between the different led to the above mentioned views of social science research: positivism and social construction-ism (Easterby-Smith, 2012, p. 22).

Paradigms are an intellectual or theoretical view of a discipline based on universal beliefs and values shared by the practitioners. Paradigms are important in any discipline in that they help to answer questions and concerns of the discipline, shape practice, concept, and aid the formation of guidelines. Other

Upon the first examination of the scholar practitioner, it seems clear that this role explores real-world solutions to problems rooted in research that effectively advances the literature of the field in a timely, relevant manner (Short, 2011). But there is a natural almost co-dependent relationship to scholarship and practice that can be described as the joining of two areas that contribute equally to the improvement of the given field of study (Snow, 2015). In consideration of this symbiotic relationship between concept and practice, Nganga suggests that often that the relationship occurs organically but grows as our interests and experiences evolve (Nganga, 2011).

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.

In the book written by Nonaka (2000), presented a summary of the ideas that underlie the notion of knowledge: (1) Knowledge is justified true believe; (2) Knowledge is something that is explicit (tacit knowledge); (3) knowledge creation effectively dependent on the context that allows the creation of occurrence; (4) knowledge creation involves five main steps are: a). Sharing knowledge explicitly (tacit knowledge), b) created the concept, c). Justifying concepts, d). Build a prototype, and e). Do the dissemination of knowledge.

Director Levitsky, I posit to you that we should restructure the epistemological foundations of U.S. counter-terrorism policy as it pertains to Salafi jihadism specifically, and Islamic terrorism broadly. I believe that we must fundamentally change our understanding what Islamic terror is if we are to have any hope of effectively opposing it. Current institutional dialectics and policy focus on the political and strategic aspirations of terrorist groups, as well as the tactical methods they employ to accomplish their goals. I suggest to you that existing counter terrorism polices are pursuing superficial material aims. We are attempting to destroy terrorist groups, institutions, and individuals. However the material structures of terrorism

The meaning of the transformative paradigm is explained in four belief systems: axiology (ethics), ontology (reality), epistemology (knowledge), and methodology according to Mertens (2009). Furthermore, (Mertens, 2009) explains that axiology emphasizes human rights and social justice; ontology rejects cultural doctrine and acknowledges the impact and consequences of power and privilege in what is deemed real; epistemology advocates culturally competent relations between the researcher and community members; and methodology employs culturally

A paradigm may be thought of as pattern or model of how something is structured and how the parts function. Kuhn (1962) defined scientific paradigms as "accepted examples of actual scientific practice.” The heredity-environment continuum paradigm is based on four theories: psycho-analytic/dynamic, behavioral, humanistic and social-cognitive.

Positivism is a theoretical point of view which concentrates on social facts, scientific methods and quantitative data. The research methods that are commonly used by positivists are questionnaires, structured interviews, structured non-participant observation and official statistics. These methods are used as they are objective and reliable. One sociological study that used positivist methods was Durkheim’s Suicide Study. Durkheim used official statistics to study suicide and demonstrate society as a science with its own distinct subject matter.

A paradigm is a model of a situation or a mindset. Paradigms can be rigid or constantly developing as you learn and grow, physically maturing or emotionally evolving. Initially, a paradigm was referring to an accepted model or pattern. In Structure, Thomas Kuhn defined a paradigm simply as a group of exemplary problem solutions universally accepted by the members of a scientific community (Brad Wray, 2012). According to Kuhn, what constitute a paradigm are not abstract theories, but concrete applications of the theories for solutions of typical problem. Paradigm can provide new ways of understanding behaviors in humans such as in individuals, organization, family, community or group and global context. The paradigm concept can serve us

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).

The social science paradigm also known as Post positivism consists of testing hypothesis and research questions that are developed through reasoning. This is done through measurements and observation. Social scientists aspire to science and they seek to study human behaviour, interaction and thought in an organized way; which we can then measure, generalize and replicate. Like any research, post-positivism needs to be backed up by evidence. When a social science research sets out a research project, it is their goal to find evidence that can either agree or disagree with the hypothesis or theories. Post positivism, compared to positivism allows more interaction with the participants of the research project and seeks to highlight the relationship between universal properties between the variables. The best way to understand post positivism is by comparing it to positivism and the interpretive paradigm. Compared to positivism, post positivism is more tolerant for value-based information, however is not focused on qualitative information like the interpretive paradigm, instead the research is mainly focused on quantitative data.

Positivism is the scientific paradigm, which is the representative of objectivity. This paradigm supports that knowledge comes through a series of steps, such as observation of the nature, forming a hypothesis and then testing the hypothesis through experiments and statistics. In this way, researchers can provide a more accurate view of the truth and prevent generalization. No personal experiences and subjective opinions are involved. In most of the cases, positivism is based on a quantitative research method, which means that the results of the research are verified by numbers and not