Identify a general area of interest to research in.
Generate a range of topic areas of interest to you.
Select a topic to focus the research on.
•
Plan the whole research project ( – research
philosophy; methodology; specific methods, timing; ethics, etc.).
•
Collect data/information.
•
Analyse data/information.
•
Present/communicate research findings.
Kolb’s Learning Cycle
The sequence of main steps in the
research process may be likened to the
learning processes in Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Deductive Approaches
•
Deductive Approaches to
Research may be seen to occur when the researcher takes a counter-clockwise
route around Kolb’s Learning Cycle thus:
•
Researcher starts with abstract concepts of what
may exist. Such an abstract concept is called a hypothesis (plural: hypotheses)
•
Researcher either directly observes and reflects
on what exists ‘out there’ OR (through an ‘operationalization’
process) sets up an experiment or observable situation and observes its
outcomes.
•
Researcher has concrete experiences resulting
from point 2 above, leading to the researcher.....
•
Testing his or her new understandings in new
situations, the outcome of which leads the researcher back to....
•
The formation of abstract concepts of what
exists via generalisations.
Deductive approaches are positivist in nature
Inductive Approaches
•
Inductive Approaches to
Research may be seen to occur when the researcher takes a clockwise route
around Kolb’s Learning Cycle thus:
•
The researcher starts with concrete experiences
of a situation/a culture/an aspect of perceived reality, etc.
•
The researcher observes and reflects upon his or
her experiences, leading to..
•
Formation of some understandings of what may
exist as reality for him- or herself or for the observed
situation/group/culture, etc.
•
The researcher may then test the newly-acquired
understanding of reality as to whether or not the appropriated meanings are
shared in the situation observed or by the members of the group or culture
under study, leading to......
•
New concrete experiences, and so on.
Inductive approaches fall under the research philosophical area of phenomenology
Nomothetic versus Ideographic approaches to Research
Nomothetic methods emphasize…..
|
Ideographic methods emphasize….
|
|
1.Induction
2. Explanation of subjective meaning systems and
explanation understanding (emic)
3. Generation and use of qualitative data
4. Commitment to research in everyday settings. To allow
access to, and minimize reactivity among the subjects of research
5. Minimum structure to ensure 2,3,& 4 (as a result of
1)
|
Other Philosophical Approaches to Research and the Nature
of Reality
•
Pragmatism
•
Objectivism
•
Subjectivism
•
Interpretivism
•
Deduction
•
Induction
•
Note that many of these terms overlap in meaning
and approach to research.
Pragmatism
•
A position that argues that the most important
determinant of the research philosophy adopted is the research question,
arguing that it is possible to work within both positivist and
interpretivist positions.
•
It applies a practical approach, integrating
different perspectives to help collect and interpret data
Source:
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012) Research Methods for Business
Students (6th edition) London: Pearson Education Limited.
Objectivism
•
An ontological position that asserts that social
entities exist in a reality external to, and independent of, social actors concerned with their existence.
Source:
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012) Research Methods for Business
Students (6th edition) London: Pearson Education Limited.
Subjectivism
•
An ontological position that asserts that
entities are created from the perceptions and consequent actions of those
social actors responsible for their
creation.
Source: Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill,
A. (2012) Research Methods for Business Students (6th edition)
London: Pearson Education Limited
Interpretivism
•
The epistemological position that advocates the
necessity to understand differences between humans in their role as social
actors.
Source: Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill,
A. (2012) Research Methods for Business Students (6th edition)
London: Pearson Education Limited
Deductive approach
•
Research approach involving the testing of a
theoretical proposition by the employment of a research strategy
specifically designed for the purpose of its testing.
Source: Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill,
A. (2012) Research Methods for Business Students (6th edition)
London: Pearson Education Limited
Inductive approach
•
Research approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data
Source: Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill,
A. (2012) Research Methods for Business Students (6th edition)
London: Pearson Education Limited
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