HMPYC80
SECTION
A
RESEARCH IN THE HUMAN
PROFESSIONS.
CHAPTERS 1 - 3
(ASSIGNMENT 1)
RESEARCH AT GRASSROOTS
FIFTH EDITION
2021
, CHAPTER 1 : RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE CHAPTER
- It is paradoxical to think of increasing a professional workforce amid soaring
unemployment rates around the world.
- Professional practice is furthermore ironically replete with malpractice and other
ethical issues, posing increasing challenges to such a growing workforce.
- Research in the professional context therefore not only faces the challenge of ensuring
relevance in its topics, but also in how it is applied and who benefits from it.
2. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PROFESSIONS
• Philosophy as a topic of study has endured academic relegation and continues
to re-establish itself as a meaningful and guiding code for society.
• Philosophy plays a pivotal role in illuminating our thinking about the many
aspects of human existence, and is therefore also critical in guiding us in our
chosen professions.
• Many places of learning across the globe that provide professional education for
teachers, nurses or social workers, amongst others, encourage these
professionals to develop their own philosophies.
• Across many academic disciplines, applied philosophy becomes foundational in
its expression as “a philosophy of ...”, thereby establishing a central position in
relation to other disciplines, including examples such as a philosophy of
education, of medicine, of law, of mind, or even of language.
so what is philosophy?
• Philosophy is the study of how knowledge, reality and our existence as human
beings evoke questions about who we are, what we know and how we
experience the world around us.
• Tartaglia refers to this as “the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and
existence”.
• When we look at professions in relation to philosophy, we could describe it as
the love (or pursuit) of knowledge around professions.
• As such, philosophy becomes the vehicle (or school of thought) through which
we interpret and perceive what is around us; this, in turn, brings about a
paradigm.
• If philosophy can be regarded as a general worldview, then a paradigm is the
framework through which we make sense of that world.
• Essentially, a paradigm establishes the boundaries of understanding and
practice, along with the subsequent ethics that must accompany these
boundaries.
, • There are many philosophies that describe the world in particular ways,
including examples such as absolutism (a philosophy of absolute power, such as
is found in absolute monarchies) and Zoroastrianism (one of the oldest and
continuously practised religions or philosophies in the world, focusing on the
notion of a balance between order and chaos).
• The respective underlying beliefs and principles of these philosophies (i.e.
elements of the philosophical paradigm ) will ultimately inform the chosen
approach and methodology the researcher uses (see below).
Figure 1.1 Philosophy of professions: elements that inform the philosophical paradigm
2.1 Paradigm
1. A philosophy presents a particular way of interpreting and understanding the
world.
2. Philosophy is by nature “multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary”
and underpinned by a particular paradigm.
3. The concept of a paradigm is somewhat contested and described in many ways
4. Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996), a paradigm – especially in sociology, philosophy
and the sciences – denotes a certain way of doing something; an example or
, pattern that establishes a “disciplinary matrix [or] the practices that define a
scientific discipline at a certain point in time”
5. As such, a paradigm prescribes what is acceptable within a community of
practice or profession.
6. Inherent to the description of a paradigm, however, is that it is likely to change
when the members of a community of practitioners within a particular profession
deem it fit to change, and this constitutes a paradigm
7. Researchers must decide from which paradigm they will be working, have a
good grasp of the nature of their selected paradigm, use it to substantiate the
methodology and methods they ultimately select, and articulate this very clearly
in their research proposal and/or report.
8. Professions may also embrace divergent paradigms depending on their nature,
mission statements and goals.
9. The paradigm to which a profession subscribes often informs the approach that
will be followed. However, professions, by their very nature, are quite pragmatic
and often exist to deal with real-world phenomena and solve problems that
relate to everyday issues in order for us as humans to survive.
10. Accordingly, of the three approaches at researchers’ disposal (i.e. quantitative,
qualitative and mixed methods), the mixed methods approach is considered to
be the most viable for the professional practice as it is placed within a pragmatic
paradigm.
11. A profession – in ancient times what has been the “call” or “declaration” upon
entering a religious order – relates to a calling, vocation, occupation or, as we
more often refer to it today, a career.
12. Pragmatism is closely linked to the Weberian philosophy that underpins the
methodology of professions.
13. Based on the work of the German sociologist and philosopher, Max Weber, this
philosophy focuses on the structure that shapes human action or agency.
14. Weber’s discussions on bureaucracy propelled him to believe that there is a
need to train professionals in service of humanity.
15. As Marxism influenced Weberianism, so, in turn, has Weberianism influenced
neo-Weberianism. Neo-Weberianism, as the name suggests, is a “new” form of
Weberianism that “serve[s] to ‘modernise’ or otherwise ‘improve’ the Weberian
paradigm”.
16. According to Musa, paradigms are informed by corresponding beliefs that help
us understand how and why those paradigms are followed within a specific
discipline or research practice.
17. It is important to note, however, that terminology is not used consistently by
authors across the literature and can be quite disorientating for even the most
experienced researchers. Several researchers and scholars in the field advise us
not to get caught up in the concepts as much as the meanings at different
conceptual levels. All these terms represent distinct hierarchical levels of
decision-making within the research process.
18. A researcher will hold certain views – personally and professionally – about the
world and evidence within that might develop from religious, indigenous,
feminist, socialist or capitalist beliefs and values.
