Research in Context, Qualitative
and Quantitative Methods and
Statistics
PSYC2005 – Block 1
1 RESEARCH IN CONTEXT
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.1.1 Understanding Research
What is research?
• Research begins with an inquisitive mind that seeks to answer a question.
• Research is about the process of discovering knowledge and is driven by curiosity.
• Research is a form of curiosity/inquiry that has been directed in a systematic,
structured, or disciplined manner.
Psychological Research
• A series of activities designed to produce data relevant to exploring a
psychological phenomenon or addressing questions regarding people’s behaviour,
cognition, emotion, social interaction and experiences.
• Research is fundamental to the production of knowledge and plays a key role in
developing theory and practice in the psychological field.
“Contingencies” of Research
• Time
o How much time do you have available to conduct research?
o When is the best time to conduct your research?
• Discipline
o Is your discipline (field of study) the right one for your research?
o Do you need the help of other disciplines?
• Place
o Is the place you are conducting your research produce accurate results?
o Do the people in that place fit into the criteria of your research?
o Will you need extra hands to help make sure your research is applicable
to them?
“Universalities” of Research
• All research contributes to knowledge production.
• It involves some sort of systematic method.
• Hels answer/provide specific truths.
• Helps to test, develop, and improve theories.
,Why do research?
• To enter the knowledge conversation
• To inform our understanding of human relations and development
• To respond to ethical obligations to inform policy in an unequal world.
• Because it is becoming the currency of the world in which we live.
1.1.2 Politics of Research
Objectivist View
• Objectivist World View: the existence of objective, absolute and unconditional
truth that exists independent of the knower.
• The objective meaning of the statement is given from a set of conditions of
universal truth, and scientific research is a matter of knowing the truth.
• From an objectivist point of view, social phenomena are comprised of distinct
objects with properties independent of the inquiring observer.
• The ideal approach to the investigation of the phenomena is the scientific method
of research and replicable observations that are considered to represent
“universal truth”.
Interrogating Objectivity
• Politics of:
o Research funding = who pays?
o Practice = who conducts research and how?
o Knowledge production = who produces knowledge and how is it regulated?
o Information decimation = who gets access to the information?
o Research uptake = who uses the results and to what end?
o Implementation = how are findings implemented?
o Evaluation = How do we decide its usefulness?
• All research involves some sort of action. Research cannot be separated from
politics.
Global and Local Research Context
• Massive inequality in the distribution of resources
• Global dominance of high-income countries and undervaluation of local research
• Poor levels of research output in South Africa, in comparison to other LMICs
• Strained education system that is slow to produce high-level researchers.
• Risk of being left out of the knowledge economy and global marginalisation.
• Drive for educational and academic institutions to become research-intensive.
Access to Knowledge-Economy
• Not everyone has access to knowledge due to various limitations:
o Having to pay to read the journal.
o Only reading those that are “free” via university resources.
o Patents
o Who wrote the book?
o Not everyone can attend industry conferences.
Political Interference can occur in 2 ways:
, • The context of justification
o Refers to the arena of objective scientific observations and deductions such
as we find in the course of scientific work in the field or the experimental
laboratory.
o Scientific method/hypothesis testing
• The context of discovery
o Is the social and subjective world of scientists as human beings, with
histories, experiences, values, and beliefs.
o The rules of scientific objectivity have little value here -- what counts are
the researcher’s private convictions about what kinds of questions are
worthy of being asked, and their social ties to friends, social groups,
political agendas and fellow researchers.
o Social/Subjective world of the researchers
Interference in the context of justification is easier to spot; interference in the context of
discovery may be hidden and difficult to cover.
Key considerations we need to make sure research is objective:
• Attention to contextual bias research.
• Reflexivity (awareness of subjectivity)
• Thorough documentation of research practices
• Transparency of the research process
1.1.3 Linking the politics of knowledge to current imperatives around
decolonisation and the Africanisation of Knowledge
Theological Foundations: Coloniality in Psychological Science
• South African psychologists are dealing with decolonisation urgently.
• The idea that the epistemic perspectives of people in oppressed communities
provide a privileged standpoint for understanding (the psychology) of the human
condition.
• The task of liberation from colonial oppression requires not only the
decolonisation of land and material resources but also the decolonisation of the
mind.
• Writing in African settings emphasises that freedom from colonial domination
requires that one confront the knowledge formations that provide a foundation
for postcolonial societies.
• The project includes the facilitation of critical consciousness that would serve as
a catalyst for liberation and revolutionary change.
• A way coloniality is evident in psychology is the coloniality of knowledge.
o Individualist habits of mind
o An adoption of this standard requires that one forget the violence that
produced modern individualist ways of thinking/being.
o Always think “how does this Western work differ from Africa?”
, 1.1.4 Three Approaches to the decolonisation of knowledge in South Africa
• The task of decolonisation requires more than the production of local
psychologists attuned to local conditions.
• It requires decolonial versions of global psychology that are conducive to the well-
being of humanity.
• Producing alternative local knowledge is necessary but not sufficient:
o This process should interrogate the “coloniality of knowledge” and the
“coloniality of being” and focus on rethinking the entire colonial research
apparatus and system.
• Approaches to decolonisation often include elements of the different approaches.
• We need to unmask standard scientific forms that masquerade as objective and
politically innocent. We need to focus on the development of concepts and tools
for a broader foundation of human liberation.
1|The Indigenous Resistance Approach
• Researchers draw on local knowledge to modify “standard practice” and produce
psychologists that are more responsive to local realities.
• Should not be done through relativity superficial forms of indigenisation.
o Such as merely populating the discipline with local or indigenous
researchers or directing closer research attention to racially oppressed or
colonised communities.
2| The Accompaniment Approach
• “Global expert” researchers from hegemonic centres travel to marginalised
communities to work alongside local people in struggles for social justice.
• Attempt to form collaborative relationships in working with marginalized
communities in the context of everyday struggles instead of adopting the expert
role.
• Implies working in marginalised settings and outside of the affluent settings
most psychologists inhabit.
3|The Denaturalisation Approach
• Researchers draw upon local knowledge and experiences of marginalised
communities as an epistemic resource to resist the coloniality of being and
knowledge in hegemonic psychology.
• Conducting decolonisation research in both WEIRD (Western, Educated,
Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) and marginalised settings.
Adopting a critical-reflexive stance to knowledge
• Questions we should ask:
o What research do we want to be done?
o Whom is it for?
o What difference will it make?
o Who will carry it out?
o How do we want the research done?
o How do we know it’s worthwhile?
o Who will own the research?
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller studywithneo. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R100,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
