Research, is a process of building up a new concept or testing an existing theory (Cohen et al, 2000). Sikes (2003) adds that research is a method of investigating something intensively, carefully, closely and critically in order to discover a new theory or to confirm or reject previous assumptions.
According to Kumar (2008), research increases our knowledge and understanding about social and physical aspects. It is conducted to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Alzheimer Europe (2009, p.1) report claims that “research is a general term which covers all kinds of studies designed to find responses to worthwhile questions by means of a systematic and scientific approach”.
Yet, to conduct any research project, one of the decisions
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De Villiers (2005) defines ontology as a science of the essence of being which is strictly connected to individuals’ view of reality. According to Blaikie (2000, p.123) ontology refers to “assumptions and claims that are formed about the nature of social reality, assertions about what it looks like, what units form it up and how these units interact with other units. In other terms, ontological assumptions are connected with what it is believed to constitute social reality”. It is the research of existence and it is associated with 'what is ', with ‘the nature of being’, and finally with ‘the structure of reality’ as such (Crotty …show more content…
Whether a researcher wishes to attain objective or subjective understanding about the issue under study or otherwise, the truth is that it should be about things which exist and how they exist. Objectivity or subjectivity of knowledge relies on reality. Ontology is the reality of what exist. It is about questioning what constitutes reality and how individuals could understand its existence. In other terms, Foerster (1996) defines ontology as the study, or the enquiry of ‘what is’ and ‘how it is’. It has to be said, ontology is about the world around us. Mainly, it is about the part of reality which the researcher selects to address. It involves the question of how society or the world is constructed: “is there a real world out there, which we are not aware of, which is independent of our knowledge?” (Marsh & Furlong 2002, p. 18). Put into the educational perspective the question may be “What is the nature of the social and educational challenge we may acquire understanding about?” (Hay 2002, p. 61). Two vital observations could be drawn here: The first remark could be, there is a real world that is independent from our understanding and upon these foundations communities are built. Secondly, there is no real world but the world is socially and expansively built and therefore dependent
Research is a systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer questions and solve problems. The ultimate goal of research is to gain knowledge that would be useful to many people. The Tuskegee study was initially started to study the effects of untreated Syphilis for about six to nine months, followed by treatment phase which gained public interest and outcry from public which led to actions initiated by US federal. The knowledge and information gathered from the study was very small compared to the risk that the men and their family endured. The participants and the families got compensated after a lawsuit was filed, but the physical, emotional and mental damaged caused cannot be
Research philosophies is a framework by which the research problem should be fundamentally approached, there are four major research philosophies positivism, interpretivism/constructivism, realism and pragmatism (Davies, 2007). Positivism is a philosophical trend in the methodology of science, defining the only source of true, actual knowledge of empirical research and denies cognitive value of philosophical inquiry. According to the positivist philosophy, methodology is not related to the essence of knowledge about the real world, but rather has to do with the operations by which knowledge is constructed. The essential reasoning behind positivism is that, all truthful learning depends on the positive data assembled from noticeable experience, and that any thought past this domain of self evident actuality is powerful. Just explanatory proclamations are permitted to be known as valid, through reason alone (Davies 2007).
There are two types of research that can be conducted in research studies, these are qualitative and quantitative (Newman, 2011). Qualitative research is a process that uses detailed oriented methodology that tries to achieve a profound knowledge or understanding of specific incident and circumstance, wh...
Qualitative and quantitative methods allow researchers to investigate, explore and inquire the nature of the phenomenon being studied. It is important that the researcher develops a clear understanding of the problem and design a plan to investigate it (Cresswell, 1998, para. 1). There are a variety of research methods; nevertheless, it is important to consider which research method is appropriate for the study. Qualitative research focuses on human experiences while quantitative research relies on numbers, measurements, and testing. Nevertheless, qualitative and quantitative methods use similar approaches to conduct research and collect data. For example, observations and interviews are approaches used in both research designs; however, the approaches are used and viewed otherwise. This will be discussed later in the paper.
They argue that the nature of sociological research is no different to that of any of the physical sciences, they are studying and measuring a set of totally independent phenomena and constructing and testing hypothesis as to the cause of this phenomenon. Positivists also refer to social facts. These are the statistics obtained from surveys and official publications. According to O’Connell Davidson and Layder the personal views of the researcher are never relevant in sociological research, and they point to the accuracy of opinion polls on a range of subjects to display the accuracy of their surveys. A second group of sociologists believe that weather objectivity is desirable or not, it can never be achieved within sociology.
Parahoo (2014) refers basic research to as pure research conducted to develop, test and refine theories and generate new knowledge to help in provision of quality and effective health services to patients. In other cases, basic research is said to seek more knowldeg for knowdleg sakes. Basic research mainly makes use of animal testing to come up with new ways and medication
Research is defined as systematic investigation in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions (OUP, 2014). The biopsychosocial model has already been described.
First, it depends on quantitative methods to understand the world. Quantitative tools are insufficient in understanding complex social phenomena, especially human systems and behaviours. Second, positivism demands researcher objectivity. Researchers cannot be completely objective because they have social, economic, political and cultural biases that can influence their choice of questions and data-collection methods as well as their analysis and recommendations. Third, positivism believes in the notion of a grand narrative apart from controlling and predicting reality. Social problems are too dynamic to be boxed in simple generalisations. Moreover, researchers cannot control human actions; they can only try to influence them if they know the latter’s innermost motivations and goals in
Positivism in sociology is an approach to study society advocating techniques similar to those used when observing the natural sciences (Browne, 2013). Positivist researchers use empirical scientific methods, and are grounded in the rational proof/disproof of scientific assertions and "assume a knowable, objective reality" (Babbie 2010). Sociologists like Durkheim stated that the aim should be to study the external social forces, that mould the ideas and actions of people, he named this notion 'social fact ', and believed these forces could be measured quantitatively - in numerical/statistical form (Browne, 2013; Schmaus. 1994). In 1986 he employed a positivist approach to conduct research, in his famous study 'le suicide ' - in which wanted
In this paper, I will define quantitative and qualitative research methods and provide examples in the context of social issues which will hopefully provide insight into how this methods are properly applied.
Traditional research may use quantitative or qualitative research method. According to Hendricks (2009), quantitative research is a general conclusion based on hard data. Hen-dricks describe quantitativ...
Many sociologists come to a disagreement and different approaches to the Sociological concept of positivism and antipositivism. Positivism is the scientific study of social patterns. This pertains to the use of scientific methods to get a more clear understanding of the natural world. Auguste Comte was the founder of this concept. Comte believed the way that society interacts with individuals using positivism would usher in a new “positivist” age of history. Comte concept of positivism is still relevant today. Since then positivism has been expanded and became the foundation for quantitative sociology. Quantitative sociology is the use of empirical evidence to gain an understanding of human patterns and behavior.
The word research emanates from the French word researcher meaning to search. The Merriam –Webster dictionary defines research as ‘studious inquiry or examination or investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts or revision of accepted theories. It further defines it as’ a careful study for the purpose of discovering and explaining newly found knowledge. Also, some people view it as a movement from known to unknown. It is described as a continuous voyage of discovery, these is where inquisitiveness of a person to probe and attain fuller understanding of unknown forms to the main impetus.
The Importance and Appropriateness of Utilizing Different Methodologies for Research. Introduction The process of research entails the logical as well as systematic search for useful data and information with regard to a specific topic (Jha, 2008). It is also comprised of the investigation of the best, most cost effective and appropriate solutions to both social and scientific issues, following an objective and logical analysis. Jha (2008) defines research as the search for knowledge and the discovery of the truth.
Research which is also known as the search for knowledge is an art of scientific search for specific information. According to Clifford Woody, the research includes defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis and suggested solutions, collecting, organising and evaluating data, making deductions and reaching conclusion and further testing whether the conclusion will fit into formulating hypothesis. Research Methodology is a scientific and systematic way of finding solution to a problem. In this research, researcher has studied various steps for research like problem along with the logic behind them. For this study, researcher must know various research techniques like mean, mode,