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Philosophy of Science
• What is science?
• Ontology & Epistemology
• Goals of scientific work
• Ways of producing new knowledge
Group work: What is Science ? 20 Minutes
Spiritualism vs Materialism
there is only spiritual existence vs all existence is materiel
Idealism vs Realism
we produce reality through perception vs reality exists independent of us
Can we find out about the (real) world independent of subjective perceptions?
• Understand • Control
• Self-emancipation
Main Paradigms of the Social Sciences
Ontology
• Positivism (Assumptions about reality)
are different
Epistemology
• Realism from each (Assumptions about the relationship
between reality and researcher)
other in
• Constructivism Axiology
terms
(Assumptions about the goals of research)
• Pragmatism of
Methods
(Preferred methods to discover reality)
Group work: 30 minutes
Please form 3 groups.
Each group please focus on one of the following couples of paradigms:
- positivism and critical rationalism
- interpretative approach and critical realism
- rationalism and critical theory.
Point out and compare the paradigms´ assumptions about
- reality
- a researcher´s capability to find out about reality
- the goals of research
- causality
- the proper research process.
Naturalist Perspective
Ontological Assumptions
• Science is objective.
• Scientific methods guarantee objectivity.
• Knowledge develops in a way independent of the researcher.
Naturalist Perspective
Axiological Assumptions
C2 A2 B2 Methodology
Theory
B1 C1
B2
C2
Hypotheses Observations
A2
B1 C1
A and B = Justification C = Discovery
via deduction Substantive domain via Induction
Deduction versus Induction
Critical questions ?
• How can science progress, when every new research builds on existing
knowledge?
• Do we run the danger of increasingly focalized knowledge?
• Are there other ways to describe reality than the ones known so far ?
• How can an „objective“ interpretation of data and results be secured?
• How to treat measurement error?
Deduction versus Induction
Critical questions?
• Can we detect and interpret regularities without any theoretical basis?
• Are the choice of data gathering techniques and data gathered consequences
of a pre-existing but not explicitly acknowledged theory ?
• To what extent does the researcher influence the research object?
• How can the quality of inductively determined propositions be tested?
• Can propositions gained from a specific case be generalized?
Abduction/Retroduction
Recursive Logic: from the specific via the general to the
specific and back to the general
Key epistemological process of critical realists
• The source of all human knowledge is empirical • The source of human knowledge is
observation. interpretation.
Axiological Assumptions
• Social processes are partly intended, Social processes serve the purpose of
partly unintended, outcomes of individuals´ interactive sense-making, enactment
purposive conduct.
and structuration.
Differences Between Naturalist and Constructionist Paradigms
• Distinction between facts and values: A distinction between facts and values is impossible:
Values affect the choice of the research Values affect the choice of the research domain
domain and the research problem. and the research problem.
But measurement and data are free of Measurement and data are value-ladden.
values.
• Measurement does not influence the Measurement changes the observed phenomenon.
research object/subject.
Group Work: 20 minutes
Please form different groups than last time and discuss the
following question:
What are quality criteria
- of scientific research ?
- of theories ?
Quality Criteria of Scientific Research
* A natural setting
• empirical validity
• explanatory power
• low number of conditional assumptions
• many rigorous but failed falsification attempts
Triangulation
• Different theoretical approaches, same method
Research results
Group work: 30 minutes
Approach of a Naturalist:
• Research object: Organizational process (steps, duration) and its result
(strategy as a formulated document leading to coordinated
action)
• Research interest: What are the factors of influence on the effectiveness of
the process and the process outcomes?
How can the process and the outcome be improved?
• Research subjects: participating individuals (hierarchical level, intensity of
participation, satisfaction with process and outcome,...)
• Measurement: production of quantitative data by individual interviews
(scales), protocols, deductive content analysis
-> modeling
Different Approaches to a Research Domain and their Effects
Example of research domain: Strategy development
Approach of a Constructionist:
• Research object: Strategy as sense giving and sense making process;
strategy as social practice
• Research interest: How does the ongoing “strategy”-discourse evolve
(participants, roles, initiatives,..)?
How do shared meanings, roles of participants, rituals,
objectifications develop over time?
• Research subjects: participating individuals as members of as social entity
• Measurement: production of qualitative data by narrative interviews,
observation, inductive content analysis
-> reconstruction of strategy-related reality construction
Different Approaches to a Research Domain and their Effects
Example of research domain: Strategy development
- Two-studies designs
sequential (aim: preparation of other study or explanation of
findings)
concurrent (cross-validation of findings)
- Integrated designs
integrated elaboration (qualitative analysis of quantitative data)
integrated generalization (quantitative analysis of qualitative data)
Pragmatic Research Approaches
Incommensurability of research paradigms?
philosophical problems vs practical benefits
What do you learn for your doctoral project from what has been
discussed so far?