Epistemological Approach to Social Analysis - Assignment Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Assessment 2 Course: Institution: Question 1: Epistemological Approach to Social Research (i) Meaning of epistemology Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with requirements and validity of human knowledge. It entails those facts on the way a person thinks and the way a person should think so as to reduce faults when learning other subjects. Epistemology is a field of philosophy that deals with knowledge and its major concerns are description of knowledge, sources of knowledge, process of attaining knowledge and limits of knowledge. It regards that knowledge may be attained through reason or experience. Epistemology is a theory of knowledge that describes what form of knowledge is legitimate and possible. An epistemology is a means of explaining and understanding how people know what they know. It is a theory of knowledge entrenched in theoretical perspective and thus in methodology (Crotty, 1998 & Bryman, 2012). (ii) Differences in epistemological positions to objectivism and constructionism Objectivism is a notion that meaning and truth exist in their objects autonomously of any consciousness Objectivism upholds that an evocative actuality exists autonomously of the mind and entities have inherent meanings in them as objects. Walter (2010) notes that objectivism also holds that people can discern this objective reality if they approach it in the appropriate way. It maintains that all human knowledge is attained via reason, the mental faculty of human beings of understanding the globe logically and abstractly. According to Walter (2010), epistemological constructivism upholds that meanings is built when our minds interrelate with the globe, which means that individuals in diverse eras or cultures build meaning in diverse approaches even in relation to a similar phenomenon. Constructivism is a theory that individuals build their knowledge and understanding of the globe via experiencing happenings and reflecting upon these experiences (Crotty, 1998). Question 2: Theoretical Perspective Theoretical Stance in Social Research (i) Theoretical positions of Positivism and Interpretivism Positivism is a quantitative, empirical approach in which supposition testing is utilized in discovering facts and relationships that can be generalized to a populace which entails logical empiricism, psychodynamic development and behaviorism. Positivism is linked with a position that asserts the significance of replicating methods of natural science to study of social actuality. Ideas may be regarded knowledge after they are subjected to testing via human senses. Positivism, as a theoretical perspective moulds actuality to be objective, free of prejudice, bias and opinion and that there exists only one truth or reality in nature. The main aim of social research, with a positivist approach is to describe social life and forecast course of events. Epistemological aspect of positivism acknowledges human behavior as orderly, patterned and comparatively stable. Thus, methodologically, positivists use objective schemes to gather data on human behavior (Walter, 2010). Interpretivism maintains that research strategy for social sciences must respect the diversities amid objects that are learned in natural sciences and people. The theoretical standpoint of intrepretivism acknowledges that people can’t have an understanding of the globe autonomously of what their minds have. In the social research domain, interpretivism as a hypothetical standpoint shapes actuality to be subjective, connecting researchers’ or person’s actions, bias and prejudices (Walter, 2010). Intrepretivism epistemological suppositions are that actuality is developed via social interaction, implying that the notion that knowledge and meaning are socially built in a particular time and context. In addition, there isn’t a single universal fact of actuality, but numerous truths developed by people. Human beings are viewed as creators of their individual reality or world without being restrained by any exterior laws (Crotty , 1998; & Bryman, 2012). (ii) Feminist stance According to Crotty, (1998), feminist epistemology refers to the manner in which gender ought to and does to affect human being’s conception of knowledge, knowing subject and practices of justification and inquiry. Feminist research is a research that deals with women and brings together all the branches of feminist research. Feminist research on based upon the presumptions that the globe is socially constructed, demonstrates a comparative repugnance to empirical positivistic method and rebuffs value free nature of study. Lydenberg and Gilmartin (1999) argue that feminist researches use a quantitative and qualitative method, even though they adjust the former to be in line with requirements of feminist paradigm. Feminist and Marxist stances on social research do not overlap because while feminist is concerned with women, Marxist social enquiry represents several insights, majority of which are not consistent with one another. Other than displaying a logical research community with a central commitment and paradigm to particular theoretical and methodological premises, Marxist has a diversity and variety of emphases. Question 3: Methodological approaches to Social Research Ethnography is a methodological approach to social research that involves a systematic collection, definition and analysis of data with the aim of developing cultural behavior theories. The focal point of ethnographic might include intensive culture and language learning, through study of a sole domain or field, and a mix of historical, interview and observational methods. It is viewed as a multiple technique model because the ethnographer can utilize and adapt several schemes suitable to a condition. Regularly, though, an ethnographer depends on the observation of the participant to collect data. As the participant observer, the ethnographer is physically and socially plunged in the case to accrue local knowledge. The ethnographer is required to be constantly reflexive and self critical to make sure that there is an appropriate analytical interpretation and description of the issue under study. Data collection and research includes diverse encounters, experiences, conversations, relationships and observations (Crotty, 1998). Ethnographical research methodology does not permit for entirely structured interviews. Whilst the research is aware of the issues to be responded to, questions emerge as the interview and conversation progresses. Crotty (1998) notes that data is gathered via chains of conversations. Likewise, the research starts through identifying major informants and because veracity and reliability of major informants is vital for ethnography, each observation made by major informants is triangulate by the ethnographers with assistance from others so as to assess precision. Talking to major informants directs researcher to individuals who might offer additional information. Question 4: Ethical Practices in Social Research (i) Purpose of consent form A consent form is used to show that the people have chosen to take part in research in accordance to their own preferences, wishes and preferences. Where research entails face to face interviews, direct observations, focus groups or identical schemes of data collection, participants are usually offered an information leaflet and required to sign the consent sheet. Consent form is useful in the safeguarding human subjects in social research and researcher’s approach toward informed consent is vital in ensuring its efficiency. Majority of studies are undertaken with fully informed, personal consent of every participant. Normally the consent is documented along with a consent form that is prepared in accordance with social research standards. (ii) Contexts in which consent may be difficult to obtain It is difficult to obtain consent when dealing with vulnerable or sensitive groups such as parolees or prisoners, distressed persons, battered women, elders or children, minors, individuals with chronic diseases or mental, emotional or physical disabilities and degenerative diseases. When working with susceptible groups, there is a high likelihood that sorrowful topics will be covered during the research. Though the research maybe harmless, research topics might be at risk because of the vulnerable conditions or situations of the participants. Bryman (2012) says that another context in which it may be difficult to obtain consent is when the research involves sensitive questions or subjects. Sensitive topics include sexual preferences and activities, illegal drug misuse, and self destructive and abusive behavior. If the information obtained in the research could put participants at civil or criminal liability or harm their employability, financial standing, or reputation, it makes it hard to get the consent. Under such circumstance, the consent needs to be reviewed to establish whether there exists adequate protection to make sure that risks to participants are minimal (Homan, 2008). (iii) “The end Justifies the means” The end justifies means describes the decency of an action and implies that the decency of an action is mainly based on the result of the action and not upon the action itself. I support this phrase in regard to social research because so as to treat research participants reasonably, researchers must make sure that they are aware of what are going to experience during the research process before they concur to take part. If lies are used, participants must be informed on what the research was about after their participation. (iv) Ethical considerations in researching with Indigenous communities When researching with indigenous communities, researchers should recognize that the aboriginal people have interests and rights that need respect and recognition by research community. Thus researchers should respect human dignity and adhere to ethical duties concerning informed consent, conflict of interest, ethics review and indigenous people have distinct understandings and perspectives ingrained in their cultures and histories and researchers should have unique interest of this people and ensure informed and accurate research regarding their community, heritage and customs. According to Neuman (2000), other ethical considerations include offering the community the chance to react to research findings prior to the completion of final report, in final report and in every relevant publication. In addition, the researcher should respect the viewpoints of diverse segments of the community in focus (National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia). Question 5: Research Concepts (i) Qualitative and quantitative research Qualitative research is utilized to search and understand individual’s experiences, beliefs, interactions, behaviors and attitudes. It majorly focuses upon gathering primarily verbal data other than measurements. Collected information is analyzed in a subjective, diagnostic, impressionistic or subjective manner. This research is majorly used to offer a detailed, complete description of research topic. Quantitative research focuses highly in classifying features and counting and building statistical figures and models to describe what is viewed. Quantitative research utilizes tools like questionnaires, measurements and surveys to gather measurable or numerical data (Walter, 2010). (ii) Validity and reliability Validity is how well a piece of research truly measures what it establishes how good it reflects the actuality it alleges to represent. It is the degree to which our results or data gauge what we aimed them to gauge. Validity includes the whole experimental concept and sets out whether the outcomes attained meet the requirements of scientific research methodology. Reliability implies that significant outcomes should be more than s single off finding and must also be inherently repeatable. Other researchers should be capable to undertake exactly an identical experiment, under similar situations and generate similar Outcomes. This will strengthen the results and make sure that broader scientific group will acknowledge the hypothesis (Walter, 2010). Bibliography Bryman, A, 2012, Social research methods, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Buchanan, R, 1998, beyond positivism: humanistic perspectives on theory and research in health education. Health education research, 13(3) 439-450. Amherst, MA: Oxford University Press. Crotty, M, 1998, The foundations of social science research: meaning and perspective in the research process, Sage, London. Homan, R, 2008, The ethics of social research , University of California Press, California. Lydenberg, R, & Gilmartin, C., 1999. Feminist approaches to theory and methodology: An interdisciplinary reader, Oxford University Press, USA National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, 1991, Guidelines of Ethical Matters in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research, Canberra, 1991. Neuman, W, 2000, Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Allyn and Bacon, Sydney. Walter, M, 2010, The nature of social science research, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne. Read More