Reference no: EM13127429

Epistemology in research

Background

One might think that subjectivism is often regarded as the sine qua non of qualitative methodology which is completely incorrect. In simple terms that qualitative methodology has an objectivist strand as well subjectivism. Objectivism states that the researcher's subjectivity can permit him /her to accurately realize the world as it exists in itself. Surely, subjectivity can bias researchers and rule out objectively understanding a subject's psychological reality. However, this is not inevitable. In fact, one of the advantages of recognizing subjectivity is to reflect on whether it facilitates or hinders objective comprehension, Ratner (1997).

Reference

Ratner, Carl (1997). Cultural psychology and qualitative methodology: Theoretical and empirical issues. New York: Plenum.

Question

What's your view on this?

Please write a response according to the above response

The ultimate aim of every research is to solve particular issues or gain knowledge. Actually while doing a management research, researchers are contributing some aspects to innovative knowledge; it may be new or old one (Robson, 2011). Epistemological perspective makes research process meaningful and fruitful. By making an option to implement epistemological perspectives or stance in the formulation of a management research problem, researchers are able to agree on evaluating the source of knowledge instead of simply accepting a belief. It is critical due to human behaviors are often influenced by social factors, this guides the choice of how and what the research is conducted and methodologies are applied in the research. There are many differencesbetween valid and invalid arguments, and they can be properly understood by only when relatedto the same with logical aspects (Filstead, 1979). In the case of epistemological perspective, it follows the principle of logical treatment. Many companies as Toyota,Nike or Samsung has implemented epistemological perspective for identifying the target customers and most profitable areas or nations, which provides a justified thinking.

Epistemological perspective is based on the following three aspects: Objectivism, Constructivism, and Subjectivism(Stroud, 2011). In the case of objectivism, the researcher already knew the fact they are discovering a truth or real issue (Rand, 1990). It has been related to positivism, which has been highly related to logical reasoning. For example, Toyota faced many issues in the case of quality and waste management systems; here the objectivism works as identifier of the reality behind the quality and waste management issues. They identified the reality, and that is why they introduced JIT (just in time)

Furthermore, the constructivism explains the reality aspects or the true fact of particular issues or problem is not based on components in the external business. Particularly when developing new theories and aspects to support the management research problem with subjective facts(BonJour, 2002). In the case of constructivism,it is unlikely to identify true elements or reality; it constructs subject matters or the theories to solve the problem. When the company such as DELL faced the product quality problem, they constructed new theories to sort out the issue (Silverman, 2005)

In the case of subjectivism, it has been based on the experience and judgment. Management research problems have been evaluated on the basis of experience and other subjective factors. Indeed, experiencesor perceptions may differ from person to person andsometimes logic and past data is not helpful for assessingnew problems, in those cases subjective approach shows more advantages than others. For instance, the marketing managers would make decisions when they literally test product.

Implementing epistemological perspectives require researchers to use different criteria in their studies. Epistemological research concerns the knowledge and the way of acquisition, therefore researchers must make a choice of study that can be determined according to existing knowledge with truth can be discovered or proven. On the other hand, researchers must determine "the origins, nature and limits of scientific knowledge, what constitutes scientific practice, and what are the processes through which scientific knowledge advances" as Johnson & Duberley (2012, p.5) questioned. Qualitative research method is normally applied by researchers who choose an epistemological perspective or stance, which is described by Phiri (2013) that consideration of a better way to manage complex and dynamic environments. Based on this point, different research methodologies should be formulated to verify the knowledge, therefore researchers are obliged to utilize proper approaches that are able to justify the credibility and relevance of the data they intend to use.

As Scotland (2012, p.9) pointed out that epistemology is "concerned with the nature and forms of knowledge", epistemological perspective provides guidelines for addressing the management research problem. Most of the researchers and companies find difficulty in the case of proper research design for particular problem, but by the way epistemological perspective, it is able to sort the issues in an easy way (BonJour, 2002, p.14). The research can be simply called as search and search again. In the case, of management research problems, epistemological perspective is highly useful for making a valid and right decision. The main purpose of very management research is providingknowledge, solution or truth for the particular problem or issue from the root of event, and formulating the explanation on the basis of knowledge that can be proven and examined via data. In this manner, researchers are able to deal with issues that can be generalized or specified and epistemological perspective or stance can support research result or hypothesis for seeing see the logical interpretation of given problem in an effective way.

Referencing style: Harvard style