Research Methods and Perspectives in Philosophy - Essay Example

Research Methods and Perspectives Ethics It is that branch within philosophy which discusses concerns about morality and views things within contexts like good or bad, right or wrong, and virtue or vice. Ethics is indeed a global phenomenon which at times does not seem to be taught; rather it is innate within every individual. Ethics has its basis within the general make-up of an individual’s personality and hence he derives a great amount of solace from doing good for not only his own self but also for the sake of the society at large. It is the moral philosophy through which man understands and empathizes with others. Ethics has a number of significant branches that can be summarized here as meta-ethics which details the theoretical implications as well as references related with moral propositions and how the truth meanings could be discerned. The normative ethics discuss the practical means through which moral courses of actions are found out. Applied ethics states how ethical outcomes could be attained within specified circumstances, situations and events. Moral psychology is another branch of ethics which deals with the proposition of how moral capacity develops and how its nature works to good effect (Sarantakos 2005). Lastly, descriptive ethics looks at the moral values, principles and beliefs which people listen and adhere to, on a consistent basis. All of these branches have one or the other moral justifications that do play their respective roles within the ethical understandings (Seale 2004). There are however a number of schools of thought as far as comprehending the basic premise behind ethics and the sub-fields of study are also present under its aegis. The famous personalities who have played significant roles in forming ethical theories include G E Moore, John Rawls, Socrates, Aristotle, John Piper, Epictetus, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, G E M Anscombe, Karl Marx, Judith Martin to name a few. Understanding the world of ethics is based on a number of beliefs, most common of which is the act of doing universal good so that the wellness of the society could be assured. This means that the people who are ethically-driven will usually bring a great deal of sanity within the different processes and actions they are involved in, and thus assist the society to grow and develop in a very positive fashion. Ethical perspectives keep on changing with the passage of time because these are seen from differential contexts every now and then (Snidal 2008). However the element of doing good and being seen as good is something that serves the society in more ways than one. In essence, ethical considerations are now being given more and more importance because people have generally realized the importance of success as it comes about with the amalgamation of good deeds with positive energy. Ethics is all about doing good for the long run success and without morality coming to the fore, one can expect a great amount of negativity to creep in, within the relevant equation. Life’s different circumstances can always be judged in a good or bad way and rest assured the good is proactively driven by ethical discussions. Bibliography Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social Research, 3rd ed. Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan Seale, C. (2004). Researching Culture and Society, 2nd ed. London: Sage Snidal, D. (2008). Reuniting Ethics and Social Science: The Oxford Handbook of International Relations. Ethics & International Affairs, Vol. 22 2) Ethnography A field of social sciences – ethnography is a peculiar scientific research strategy which is primarily used within anthropology as well as in some specific types of sociology. Ethnography is a very vital part of the historical science which understands its own self about people, which might include different ethnic groups as well as similar ethnic formations. It also underlines their ethnogenesis, the resettlement, composition, material and spiritual cultural forms and lastly the social welfare traits and characteristics. It is a well-known fact that ethnography is employed within the gathering of empirical data which is focused on the discussion of cultures and human societies (Sarantakos 2005). Within ethnography, data collection takes place through interviews, participant observation, different kinds of questionnaires and so on. What this really means is that ethnography takes a close look at the nature of those who are studied in terms of the description of the people through the art of writing. Within the sphere of biological sciences, ethnography is remarked as a field study and sometimes as a case report and the two terms are used interchangeably for ethnography. The study of ethnography is very holistic in nature as it is based on the assumption that human beings are comprehended in a very able way through the place that they put up, the enhancements that they have brought about within the place of their living, the manner in which they are making up a living as well as providing housing, food, energy resources and water for their own selves (Cook 2007). This also encompasses the different elements that might include their rituals, marriage ceremonies, varied customs, the languages they converse within and so on and so forth. Ethnography has serious links with varied genres as diverse as colonial office reports, travel writing, the novel and the play. There are some cultural anthropologists that claim very staunchly that ethnography is the core basis of anthropology in its truest sense. Adding to this, ethnographic methodology is evaluated in different mannerisms and ways, like positivism and emotionalism to name a few (Pole 2003). There are five different ways through which ethnographic methodology is evaluated. These include the substantive contribution, the aesthetic merit, the reflexivity, the impact and lastly the expression of reality. The data that is collected under the ethnographic model is indeed very direct and involves first hand observation related with daily participation (Brewer 2000). What this encompasses is participant observation and at times even interviewing which shall comprise of conversation at varied levels, like small talk as well as long interviews. The ethnographic methodology is made use of in a number of different disciplines which might entail the cultural studies, the social work, economics, linguistics, geography, performance studies, psychology, usability, criminology, education, ethnomusicology, folklore and communication studies to name a few (Spindler 1987). These disciplines are basically employed by anthropologists and sociologists at times. There are however a number of other fields as well which make use of ethnography from time to time but the focus has remained on the chosen few mentioned above. Bibliography Brewer, J. (2000). Ethnography. Open University Press Cook, S. (2007). The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 13 Pole, C. (2003). Ethnography for Education. Open University Press Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social Research, 3rd ed. Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan Spindler, L. (1987). Interpretive Ethnography of Education: At Home and Abroad. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 3) Qualitative Research Methods Qualitative Research Methods are methods of inquiry which are made use of within a number of academic disciplines. Its most significant use is within the field of social sciences, in market research as well as in other areas (Drisko 2008). It is a fact that qualitative researchers have a mission to gather a complete know-how of the human behavior as well as the very reasons that eventually result in such behaviors on the part of the human beings. The why and the how of decision-making are examined by the qualitative research methods. Further it also studies the what, where and when. It is a fact that smaller samples are more often made use of rather than having large ones. As far as the significance of qualitative research methods are concerned, these bring out information which is used in specific cases only while conclusions of a general nature are mere hypotheses, also known as informative guesses. On the other hand, quantitative research methods verify these hypotheses as either being true or false (Dunne & Smith 2010). Qualitative research methods bring out the quality that is embedded within research and hence highlight the salient aspects which can make or break the basis of research. It also understands the exact manners and ways through which the research basis is analyzed upon – the why and how are examined carefully and the important details are then subjected to a level of comprehension which was not there without qualitative research done already. It mentions the need to remain one step ahead of the quantitative research which is all about numbers, and lists nothing else. Since qualitative research brings out the differences that would not have been mentioned within the quantitative research, it is always a good proposition to take both of these research methods together, so that the end result is one of wellness for the sake of the research that is already being done. Qualitative research is wholesome because it finds out more than just numbers and has a mission to go beyond the ordinary. It takes into consideration all those aspects that are deemed non-important by the quantitative research regimes. It is always better for the researchers to have know-how of how things shape up at the present as well as in the future. It would put the researchers in a fix as to how they will cope up with the demands of the target audiences if the research bases are not covered in a proper manner and when there are shortcomings of a glaring nature. Qualitative research methods are now being incorporated within those research areas where the same were considered shallow and non-usable (Bryman 2008). Earlier the focus was on having quantitative research more than anything else but now the consideration has been laid on the qualitative realms since it brings out the best within the research modules, and specifically targets the grey areas as well. These areas are then worked upon by the researchers so that any ambiguities that might arise are taken care of at the earliest. Bibliography Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press Drisko, J. (2008). How is Qualitative Research taught at the Master’s level? Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 44 Dunne, T & Smith. (2010). International Relations Theories, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press Read More