Different epistemologies offer different views of researchers’ relationships with their object of inquiry. When it comes to ontology, it is the theory of reality or existence (Crotty, 1998). For example, researcher’s ontological beliefs determine not only how they think about reality, but what exists for real
His epistemology is a proper balance of both empiricism and rationalism. He agrees with empiricism that knowledge is originated from experience. On the other hand, he agrees with rationalism by stating that knowledge comes from reason. He found an issue believed the two theories separately, but when some parts are combined Kant produces a new theory. Kant altercates that two sorts of knowledge exist.
Some researchers argue that judgment also plays an important role in the concept of subjectivism. It is helpful for getting the speedy solution for the problems. Compared with objectivism and constructivism, subjectivism more flexible and we can use in different situations. Most of managers are taking decisions by analyzing and experiencing the changes in the global market. (Bolker 2014, p.49).
Descartes and Hume. Rationalism and empiricism. Two of the most iconic philosophers who are both credited with polarizing theories, both claiming they knew the answer to the origin of knowledge and the way people comprehend knowledge. Yet, despite the many differences that conflict each other’s ideologies, they’re strikingly similar as well. In this essay I will attempt to find an understanding of both rationalism and empiricism, show the ideologies of both philosophers all whilst evaluating why one is more theory is potentially true than the other.
iii. Interpretivism: This research approach is beyond the reality and truth. It deals with the overall world view regarding each problem. It is not only to find out what the truth is but to have a critical look and bird’s eye view. It is to put yourself in others shoes and then see the perspective and this process is known as ‘VERSTEHEN’.
Foremost, the positivist and post positivist idea that only standardized scientific methods must be used for research in all sciences seems to be oversimplified. For instance, Guba and Lincoln (1994) argue that in social science it is more acceptable to create knowledge through interaction between the researcher and the respondents than being discovered through objective observation. The approach of the positivist paradigms cannot be universally acceptable but may only find it convenient space in the natural sciences. Nevertheless, as Wills (2007) explained, constructivist do not always abandon the rules of the scientific methods, they rather recognize that whatever method used in research is subjective and can be imperfect. Constructivists even believe that an objective approach can be used to understand the subjective actions, beliefs and desires of people.
Without epistemology “we would have no reason to believe our thinking is productive or correct, as opposed to random images flashing before our minds.” (Landeaour, 2001) The degree to which our epistemology is correct is the degree to which we could understand reality, and the degree to which we could use that knowledge to promote our lives and goals, which is fundamentally the task of sociology and anthropology. That is why it is essential that their epistemology is correct. Henrietta Moore establishes three fundamental questions for anthropologist in the book Anthropology in theory Issues in epistemology: “do all humans think in the same way?”(Moore, 2006:1), which forms the
The concept of Positivism is directly associated with the idea of objectivism. In this kind of philosophical approach, scientists give their viewpoint to evaluate social world with the help of objectivity in place of subjectivity (Cooper and Schindler 2006). According to this paradigm, researchers are interested to collect general information and data from a large social sample instead of focusing details of research. According to this position, researcher’s own beliefs have no value to influence the research study. The positivism philosophical approach is mainly related with the observations and experiments to collect numeric data (Easter-by-Smith et al 2006).
Epistemological beliefs: epistemology is a theory of knowledge which dealt with “the origin, nature, source, limits, and justification of human knowledge” (Audi, 1998; Klein, 1998, as cited in Sitoe, 2006, p.22). In other words, it concerns with the nature of knowledge and knowing. This theory originated from a challenge to answer a basic question: “whether knowledge is achieved through reason (rationalism) or it is attained through experience (empiricism) (Dancy, 1985; Woozley, 1966, as cited in Schommer, 1998, p.129). Rationalists believed that knowing and learning occur when an individual can use his reasoning ability and reach a rational conclusion. From their viewpoint sensorial experiences are not reliable, because senses can make mistake.
Firstly, I will talk about the Constructivism theory is which known for a long time extends across the centuries. However, according to Applefield, Huber & Moallem (2000) unlike other theories, the Constructivism theory view was that learning is inseparable from the developmental evolution of the relationship between subject and object. More than that, the theory based on observation and scientific study, their view was that each learner has his own way of understanding by builds information and knowledge of the world within the surrounding environment, society and experiencing things which live a significant impact in the construction of knowledge. Nevertheless, the learner in the Constructivism theory builds knowledge within individual mind