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Dissertations and research projects

Guidance for every stage of your research project, from planning to writing up.

Epistemology

Epistemology concerns the nature of knowledge and how we come to know what we know. It provides a philosophical grounding for considering what knowledge is possible and that how we determine that knowledge is adequate and legitimate. As such there are quite a range of epistemologies. Fortunately, it is unlikely that you will be expected to go into great detail about the epistemology of your research. It is however, important to consider what is accepted as 'knowledge' in your research.

It is likely that the epistemology of your research will either be positivistic or interpretivist, so it's worth considering the differences between them:

The positivist research philosophy understands phenomena through objective measurement, to collect data that can be used to develop generalisations and facts about the world.

By contrast, the interpretivist research philosophy views knowledge as socially constructed and therefore accepts multiple interpretations and subjective meanings.

Though you shouldn't become too worried about understanding this distinction, it is worth having some understanding of your research philosophy as this is likely to influence your chosen methodology, which will in turn affect the methods you use to collect your data (more on this later!)

Tip: To fully view the table below, drag it sideways, or turn your screen sideways.
Table: Assumptions of positivism and interpretivism

Assumptions

Positivism

Interpretivism

Nature of reality

Objective, tangible, single

Socially constructed, multiple

Goal of research

Explanation, strong prediction

Understanding, weak prediction

Focus of interest

What is general, average, and representative

What is specific, unique, and deviant

Knowledge generated

Absolute laws (time, context, and value free)

Relative meanings (time, context, culture, value bound)

Subject/Researcher relationship

Rigid separation

Interactive, cooperative, participative

Desired information

How many think and do a specific thing or have a specific problem.

What some people think and do; what kind of problems they are confronted with.

Table adapted from Alkhalil (2016). See also Creswell (1998) or Collis, J., & Hussey, R. (2014). 

If you are interested in finding out more about epistemology and philosophies of research, The Foundations of Social Research (Chapter 1) by Michael Crotty is a good place to start.

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