Onsideration for Epistemology and Practical Factors - Essay Example

What epistemological and practical factors should be considered when planning a research project? Introduction When planning a research project, theresearcher needs to understand how his/her research fits into the research framework. In social research where pure data cannot be taken as stand-alone information to provide insight on the discussed issue, it is therefore imperative that research methods and epistemology be considered beforehand as well as its implications. The current social research project shall explore the question: what is the perception of older people living in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia about formal and informal care? It shall study the perception of aging population on the type of care they receive from carers including paid-care and family care. The objective of the research is to investigate the living trends of the aging population and how their care impacts the social arena in Saudi Arabia. The research would require qualitative explanations for them to be able to understand the issue in the social context. For this reason the research epistemology and practical aspects need to be organised. Consideration for epistemology and practical factors - Theoretical Framework Epistemology refers to the researchers ontology on the existing reality and compares it with theories. Theories have been developed by earlier studies. The researchers epistemology may be different from others or may resemble. It is therefore important to determine the research epistemology which supports the research perspectives. In this research, the epistemology rest on the fact that changing social and economic conditions have given rise to the aging population in Saudi Arabia, which may be explained by empirical research and social theories. According to Bryman (2008) "a theory is an explanation for observed regularities" (p.6) which the researcher uses as stepping stones for his/her own epistemology. For research of the aging population and their perception on kind of care they receive, qualitative approach has been chosen because of social theoretical framework required to explain people’s perception. - Methodology Research epistemology also largely depends on the underlying adopted methodology, methods, and techniques as well that the researcher chooses for objective evaluation (Love 2001). For this research an interpretivist approach has been chosen. An interpretivist approach is a methodology which involves inquiry of a specific sampling to formulate theories which are grounded to data. In this methodology interviews and focus groups are the preferred method for data collection (Dawson 2007). In this study, theory shall be generated by adopting the qualitative method for which subjective data shall be acquired through semi-structured/non-standard interviews. Due to the constraints for time and the fact that data collection process takes a long time, the researcher has limited the sampling number to ten or below participants. Semi-structured interviews offer the flexibility to change the direction of the research according to the data collected until no new information can be generated. Also, semi-structured interviews are ideal in exploratory investigation which is imperative in social research where subjective factors like attitudes, behaviours, experiences, and perception cannot be measured but can be evaluated expressively from a small group of people. This way, several dimensions and aspects can be elicited from the responses of the participants (Dawson 2007; Hailman and Strier 2006). The focus group shall make up for the primary data. For the secondary data, which refers to resources from indirect sources, the researcher shall explore libraries and online databases. Articles, books and online write-ups shall be reviewed to build up a theoretical framework on care for the aging people. Technology The researcher shall be using a voice recorder to film and document the interviews as records. This would allow the researcher to firstly go back to the interviews for missed out information, and secondly to keep them as data records for future reference. Interviews shall be transcribed for the purpose of ease of reference for readers. - Limitations Despite the above advantages, the researcher is very much aware of the limitations of qualitative approach to research. A small sampling for example will help to limit the scope of the interview to the research hypothesis and hence will allow the researcher to concentrate on the development of the theory structured to the proposed research outcome. Also, qualitative method of research relies much on the researchers observation and sense. The researchers observation may be bias and lead to data misrepresentation. Furthermore, care would be taken in analysing data coming from individual bias as well as opinions and perceptions. Interpretation of the data therefore can be done at three levels: 1. Interpretation by individuals 2. Interpretation by researcher 3. Interpretation by theories, concepts and social research discipline These influences should be taken in consideration conjunction with the research evaluation and outcome. - Ethics Participants in this research shall comprise of carer as well as aged individuals. For carers, permission shall be acquired from their institutions beforehand. Likewise, carers in case of informal care shall be have to give permission to their wards before they can participate in the focus group. Where research involves participants and volunteers, privacy is one of the major issues concerned. Care shall be taken to acquire personal information with the consent of the participants. Since the nature of this research involves sensitive information generation pertaining to age, health, careers, family orientation, sexual orientation, and marital status, to name a few, the researcher shall omit personal information, to ensure confidentiality, which can be used to trace back to the individuals when presenting results in the data analysis section. Participants shall also be informed of the research terms before they are set up for the interviews. This action shall be important for earning trust and also to allow them to give honest and detailed responses. The participants shall also be informed of their right to withdraw from the interview at any given time. In case they continue with the research they will be assured of anonymity. The research expects these ethical aspects ease the process of information generation and hopes to elicit true information. Conclusion Despite the above measures and plans, the researcher expects drawbacks and limitations to the research project. Qualitative approach to research has some degrees of bias which cannot be measured. The attempt would be to investigate and evaluate the information with maximum objectivity but data collection, responses, and interpretation processes may hinder authentic information acquisition. On a positive note, the researcher is aware that the problem of perception of aging in Saudi Arabia has been studied by few, and requires a fresh outlook. With a qualitative research based on grounded theory, the researcher expects to come up with a new dimension and perhaps new theory to the concept of aging in the Middle East. With these factors in mind, the researcher aim to achieve research objectives by the end of the study - which is what are the perceptions of people of aging in Saudi Arabia. References Bryman, A (2008) Social research methods. oxford University Press. Oxford Dawson, C. (2007) A Practical Guide to Research Methods. How To Books. Hailman, J.P. and Strier, K.B. (2006) Planning, Proposing, and Presenting Science Effectively, Second Edition. Cambridge University Press Love, T. (2001) Resolving problems with the Foundations of PhD Education: Theoretical Perspectives. Online access on 29 November 2011 from: http://www.love.com.au/PublicationsTLminisite/2001/2001_tlf_TheoPerspLongThesis_TL.htm Read More