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MTO-E MAW: METHODEN V
KWALITATIEF ONDERZOEK
UNIT 1 FOUNDATIONS
CONTRASTING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
ONTOLOGY, EPISTEMOLOGY AND PARADIGMS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
RESEARCH
Before we can start doing research, we need to adopt a particular belief.
- We need to believe that something exists.
- We need to believe that we can acquire knowledge about that
what we believe exists.
ONTOLOGY: ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF REALITY
Ontological beliefs influence both the kind of topics you want to research
and the way you want to do research. Ontological beliefs influence
epistemological beliefs beliefs about how we can acquire knowledge.
Two major positions in social science: objectivism and constructionism.
Ontology is concerned with the nature of reality and what there is to
know about the world.
Epistemology is concerned with questions about how we know this world.
These are philosophical questions. The answer to these questions will
influence both what you want to research, and how you want to research.
In Ritchie and Lewis, a distinction is made between two ontological
positions: realism and idealism. These positions are also referred to by
researchers as objectivism and constructivism.
NEDERLANDSE TOELICHTING
Ontologie = Wat is de realiteit? Hoe (een bepaald deel van) de wereld in
elkaar zit? nadenken over kennis en reflectie op kennis zelf
Epistemologie = Hoe kan ik die werkelijkheid kennen? inhoud van
kennis en kijkt waar kennis verbeterd kan worden
1
,ONTOLOGY
EPISTEMOLOGY
Ontological positions have consequences for our epistemological position.
If we assume that there is an external reality, it follows that we can study
this reality by using our senses: we can see it, hear it, smell it, touch it,
taste it.
- Objectivism empiricsm
If we believe that reality is constructed (constructionisme)
interpretivism: how people construct meaning form their experiences
ONTOLOGY + EPISTEMOLOGY = PARADIGM
Paradigms = Particular combinations of ontological and epistemological beliefs
are called paradigms.
WPARADIGMS
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, First scientific paradigm is referred to as positivism. Positivism adopts an
objectivist ontological position and a realist epistemology.
- In other words: positivists assume that there is an external reality, and
that we can know this reality by using our senses. This was quite
revolutionary at that time.
This position has been nuanced later, as scientists became convinced that
reality can never be fully known. This nuanced version of positivism is
called post-positivism. However, post-positivism still adopts a rather
objectivist approach to scientific inquiry.
From the seventies onwards, different paradigms started to develop. The
interpretivist paradigm posits that it is important to find out how people
understand and interpret the world around them. After all, if men define
situations as real, they are real in their consequences.
Constructionist paradigms, of which there are many, go even a step
further. If people construct the reality in which they live, so do researchers.
It is therefore important for social researchers to reflect continuously on
their own role. Another insight brought by constructionist approaches is
the recognition of the importance of language. After all, it is through
language that people construct meaning. This insight is referred to as the
linguistic turn.
Acknowledging the role of researchers themselves in constructing realities
has given rise to (participatory) action research. Realizing that they are
part of the construction, researchers came to feel responsibility for the
outcomes of their research. This had led researchers to adopt research
approaches that question existing realities, as in critical theory, or that
would result in concrete benefits for the people involved, such as action
research.
PARADIGMS AND THE QUALITATIVE/QUANTITATIVE DIVIDE
The ontological and epistemological assumptions of the different
paradigms conflate with preferences for qualitative or quantitative
approaches.
UNIT 2 QUALITY CRITERIA AND SAMPLING
PART 1: QUALITY OF RESEARCH
QUALITY OF RESEARCH ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT PARADIGMS
One’s paradigm influences one’s beliefs of what good research is
The adoption of a particular paradigm brings with it also the adoption of
particular quality criteria
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, ‘GOOD RESEARCH’ - QUALITY CRITERIA IMPLIED IN POSITIVISM
Three major quality criteria
- Findings are an accurate reflection of reality – validity
- Another researcher will be able to conduct the same research –
replicability
- When another researcher will conduct the research, the results will be
the same – reliability
In positivism it is assumed that there is an objective reality that we can
know more or less unproblematically by adopting an empirical approach.
This means that we can produce accurate knowledge about the reality that
surrounds us. It also means that others should be able to produce the
same research outcomes.
CRITERIA FOR GOOD QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
How to judge the quality of qualitative research?
- There are researchers who have a more positivist orientation: speak
about the quality of their research in terms of validity, reliability and
replicability.
- Other researchers argue that these three concepts are too much
associated with quantitative research, and with ontological and
epistemological positions that are too different from their own. They
therefore propose to use terms like ‘trustworthiness’.
Trustworthiness has 4 dimensions:
- Credibility = confidence in the 'truth' of the findings
- Transferability = showing that the findings have applicability in
other contexts
- Dependability = showing that the findings are consistent and could
be repeated
- Confirmability = a degree of neutrality or the extent to which the
findings of a study are shaped by the respondents and not researcher
bias, motivation, or interest.
Other researchers argue that research should not only be judged on its
own terms, but also on its social relevance. This argument has been most
strongly developed in constructionist paradigms. Some researchers even
adopt this criterion as the main criterion. Such is the case in action
research.
TECHNIQUES TO ESTABLISH TRUSTWORTHINESS IN QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
CREDIBILITY = GELOOFWAARDIGHEID
1. Prolonged Engagement & Persistent Observation = langdurige
betrokkenheid & aanhoudende observatie
- Spending enough time and focusing on aspects relevant to the issue
being studied
2. Triangulation = driehoeksmeting
- Using multiple data sources in an investigation to produce
understanding.
3. Peer debriefing = overleggen met collega’s
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