Methodological and Theoretical Approaches of Two Different Pieces of Social Research - Essay Example

Compare and contrast the methodological and theoretical approaches of two different pieces of social science research exploring the same topic/ issueIntroduction This paper compares the theoretical and methodological approaches adopted in two studies on multiculturalism in the United Kingdom. The studies have been written by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) and Uberoi and Modood (2013). The research methodology as well as the nature of the research questions are compared and contrasted for the two studies. In addition, the analysis of methodological approaches includes the approaches to data collection and analysis, as well as the general orientation towards epistemological and ontological aspects of the study. The analysis is illustrated by evidence from the two articles and supported by academic references from research literature. Overview of Articles for Comparison and Contrast The two articles that are compared and contrasted in this paper are ‘Towards a more pragmatic multiculturalism? How the UK Policy community sees the future of ethnic diversity policies’ by Peter Taylor-Gooby and Edmund Waite (2014) and ‘Has multiculturalism in Britain retreated?’ by Varun Uberoi and Tariq Modood (2013). In their article, Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) explore the changing attitudes towards multiculturalism in British society. They consider various perspectives through interviews with eminent personalities and come to the conclusion that changes have come about in the way policymakers and politicians interpret multiculturalism more negatively. However, at a societal level, multiculturalism continues to be valued and the people are progressing towards a pragmatic approach towards multiculturalism that promotes resolving cultural issues through appreciation of the cultural context and differing opinions. The second article by Uberoi and Modood (2013) present a different picture by stating that multiculturalism has assumed negative connotations over time in British society. The article states that multiculturalism is seen as a forced construct in society and perpetuates inequality in state services. For instance, they explain that several state services are no longer offered in multiple languages. They state further that the retreat from multiculturalism by British politicians and policymakers may be an indication of the negative ways in which multiculturalism is perceived. Compared with the melting pot kind of cultural assimilation in the United States, politicians may believe that multiculturalism promotes ghettoization and segregation of communities on the basis of their cultural differences. Comparison and Contrast of Theoretical Approaches Approach to Research The first thing that needs to be compared is the approach to research adopted by the authors of the two articles. The article by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) is based on the social constructionist paradigm because it explores how the concept of multiculturalism and attitudes towards it has evolved over the years. Compared to the positivist paradigm, the authors in this case shy away from prescribing a universal and unchanging conception of multiculturalism; instead they focus on the influence of societal changes and dynamics on the evolving conception of multiculturalism. Burr (2015) explains that social constructionist approach requires the researcher to questions the accepted ways of interpreting the world and the assumptions that one takes for granted. In this case, Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) take down the concept of multiculturalism to its basic elements based on how it is perceived and interpreted by different groups. In the social constructionist approach, meaning is thought to be created as a result of social interactions between individuals and groups (Berger and Luckmann, 2011). Hence, Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) explain that the British people and the politicians view multiculturalism in different ways based on their unique cultural contexts and objectives. When viewed in this way, the social constructivist approach enables Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) to approach the concept of multiculturalism in a broad way and investigate it from diverse perspectives and angles. Hence, the social constructivist approach benefits the research and is well-suited to its aims and objectives. In the case of the study by Uberoi and Modood (2013), the approach to research may be regarded as broadly social constructivist because it investigates how attitudes towards multiculturalism have come to differ between the British citizens and policy makers. At the same time, the study has a slightly different approach from that of Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014). The authors Uberoi and Modood (2013) may be said to engage in some degree of grounded theory as well due to the face that they have a wealth of secondary research at their disposal which they employ to dissect the interpretation of multiculturalism by different authors. As a result of the grounded theory approach, the authors are able to distinguish ‘state multiculturalism’ from multiculturalism in general and thus contribute to the discourse on the subject. Research Questions The second aspect along which the two articles may be compared is the nature of the research question. In the study by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) research is conducted by posing exploratory questions. According to Yin, exploratory questions are formulated in order to acquire more knowledge and information about the concept or phenomenon under study. Yin (2009:9) further states that the purpose of using conducting a study based on exploratory questions is “to develop pertinent hypotheses and propositions for further inquiry”. Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014:269) reflect the exploratory nature of their study when they state the following: This article seeks to contribute to the debate about how multiculturalist policies are likely to develop. One influence on future directions will be the way in which leading figures in the policy community understand the issues and their views on how any conflicts might be resolved. In addition to using exploratory questions, the authors also use contextual questions in order to investigate how the changes in policies towards multiculturalism have been brought about by changes in the social environment. According to Robins et al. (2009:175), contextual research questions are those that investigate the contextual variables such as time, place and the people involved in order to arrive at a conception of the phenomenon being studied. The orientation towards contextual variables in the study by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) is affirmed by the following quote regarding the change in perceptions about multiculturalism from the research paper: These challenges have been made in a context marked by civil disorders in which ethnicity played a role, especially the urban riots of the early 2000s, the rise of extreme-right parties, which presented ethnic minorities as encroaching on the rights of the white working class, and terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists. (p. 285) Similar to Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014), Uberoi and Modood (2013) have also employed similar types of research questions to conduct their investigation. The study is largely exploratory because the strategy the authors have adopted is to compare a large volume of secondary research and use it to inform their observations. Uberoi and Modood (2013) differ from Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) in one other aspect—their study incorporates explanatory questions as well as evaluative questions into their study. The answers to these questions enable the authors to explore the reasons for negative attitudes towards multiculturalism creeping into the policy discourse. Unfortunately, they are not as successful as they hope: “Yet it is unclear who or what is promoting this separation and division as no evidence of multiculturalist ideas or measures that do so are offered (Uberoi and Modood, 2013:136). Orientation to Theory The orientation of the two studies towards theory is also important to be compared. In the case of the study by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014), the orientation is towards generation of theory by analysing the existing approaches to multiculturalism and arriving at conclusions about the future direction of the debate and the implications for policymaking. This may also be regarded as the inductive approach to research. According to Patton (2015), inductive analysis starts by taking account of observations, interpreting them and then arriving at a general pattern on the basis of how the observations shape up and fit together. This is the same approach that Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) have pursued in their study. They have analysed the opinions and statements of various people and have consolidated their interpretations into a general argument or conclusion about the future of multiculturalism. On the other hand, Feeney and Heit (2007) state that inductive reasoning is an approximate form of reasoning because inferences are drawn from several observations. These inferences contribute to a probabilistic assumption of actual relationships between the concepts. This implies that the assumptions and conclusions held by the authors in their inductive research may be probabilistic in nature and actual events and relationships may be different from what is claimed. Similar to Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014), the authors Uberoi and Modood (2013) have also chosen the inductive approach to their investigation because of the qualitative nature of their study. They have in fact adopted a historicist approach to analyse changes in the way perceptions about multiculturalism have changed over a period of time. It appears at times, that the authors are inclining towards a positivist approach but this is due to the fact that the authors have incorporated evidence and data from a chronological perspective; however, they withhold making positivist conclusions about the efficacy of multiculturalism or its relevance to British society. The inductive approach of the authors is illustrated by this quotation from the article: Legal exemptions for minority religious practices remain, as do anti-discrimination measures. The aims of multicultural education remain in the English education curriculum. It is unclear whether or not race equality is promoted less than it once was, or whether public services are no longer delivered in different languages. Certainly the latter has been criticized. (Uberoi and Modood, 2013:282) Comparison and Contrast of Methodological Approaches Research Methodology The two commonly used research methodologies are qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Cresswell (2013) explains that qualitative research may be conducted in various ways such as phenomenological research and ethnographic research. The basic difference between qualitative and quantitative methodologies is that the former are based on analysis of subjective or observed data whereas the latter is based on analysis of quantitative data. Hence, the conclusions of quantitative research are presumed to be more objective while in fact qualitative research also involves several rigorous methods of analysis including thematic analysis among others. The study by Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) is based on qualitative research design. This is evidenced by several factors, the foremost being the data collection approach that involves conducting interviews with people and analysing their responses to generate the conclusions for the study. According to Bernard (2013), interviews are among the widely used data collection methods in qualitative research as these provide access to subjective interpretations and the knowledge held by the respondents over the subject matter of the research. The study by Uberoi and Modood (2013) is also qualitative in nature in that it does not make use of quantitative data; instead it analyses existing theoretical frameworks and the causal relationships that surround the concept of multiculturalism. Although the approach cannot be described as completely based on thematic analysis, the authors have rigorously analysed three subjective interpretations of multiculturalism. The researchers analyse the statements made by British politicians and policymakers and extract inferences from those as well to inform their analysis. Epistemological Orientation Since both the articles are based on the qualitative approach to research, they share similar approaches to the investigation and form of inquiry. At the same time, there are differences in how these approaches are implemented and modified to suit the research objectives. The studies are based on the epistemological orientation, which according to D’Cruz and Jones (2004) is a theory of knowledge and an approach to question the assumptions on which theories of sociology are based. Epistemology investigates which knowledge is worthy of being studied and included in the corpus of theory on that particular subject. Under the epistemological orientation, the studies are based on interpretivism which appreciates differences between opinions and approaches to a concept (Bryman, 2004:13). Hyde et al. (2004) further state that interpretivism is based on acknowledging the difference between the natural world and the social world. Hence, this kind of approach enables the researcher to embrace multiple subjective opinions into the analysis without disregarding those that do not reflect his or her preferences. Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) demonstrate interpretivism when they incorporate views from a number of interviewees into their discourse of multiculturalism. Similarly, Uberoi and Modood (2013) incorporate the evidence in support of multiculturalism as well as that which indicates multiculturalism to be on the retreat in the United Kingdom. The two studies differ mainly in the way in which they employ interpretivism. Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) employ interpretivism in order to predict policy implications while Uberoi and Modood (2013) limit their analysis to identifying the probable causes of multiculturalism’s perceived retreat from the United Kingdom. Ontological Orientation Another important aspect of the research methodology is the ontological orientation. Along with the epistemological orientation which investigates the nature of knowledge, the ontological orientation questions the nature of reality. According to Shkedi (2005), ontology is a form of inquiry that questions issues of reality and existence. It engages in inquiry that aims to discover the nature of reality. It is concerned with the study of being and identifying whether a social world actually exists. Studies that undertake qualitative research are frequently based on the constructionist perspective of ontology. In contrast to the positivist perspective that assumes no difference between the natural and social worlds, the constructionist perspective is based on the view that social phenomena are not universal but are in fact in a process of revision due to the influence of social interactions between individuals (Bryman, 2004:17). It is for this reason that Remtulla (2007) describes constructivism as a series of debates between diverse and often opposing interpretations of concepts under study. Both the studies in this report adopt constructivism as the ontological perspective. Since both the studies investigate the change that has come over the concept of multiculturalism, the studies appear to be concerned with how the existence of cultural differences between ethnic communities are interpreted in the present British environment. In Uberoi and Modood (2013:132), this is evidenced in the following statement: Hence Britain’s identity today differs from what it was a century ago, as do people’s British identities, and the measures within a policy of multiculturalism that are described above help over time to make such changed. … As features of the nation become more inclusive, so, by definition, does its identity. In terms of differences between the ontological approaches of the two studies, the only significant difference may be that Taylor-Gooby and Waite (2014) interpret the existence of differences in attitudes towards multiculturalism through interview with individuals while Uberoi and Modood (2013) do this by drawing inferences from government policies and statements by politicians. Conclusion On the basis of the above discussion, it may be concluded that the two articles investigating the topic of multiculturalism in British society follow largely similar research methods with minor differences. The approach is largely qualitative and exploratory in nature since both the studies investigate changes in attitudes towards multiculturalism. The studies adopt exploratory questions while Uberoi and Modood (2013) engage in some explanatory investigation to determine the causes of change in state policy towards multiculturalism. Both studies also pursue the interpretivistic and social constructivist approaches to multiculturalism. References Berger, P. L. and Luckmann, T. (2011). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Open Road Media. Bernard, H. R. (2013). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Sage Publications. Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Burr, V. (2015). Social Constructionism, 3rd ed. Routledge Publishing. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications. DCruz, H. and Jones, M. (2004). Social Work Research: Ethical and Political Contexts. Sage Publications. Feeney, A. and Heit, E. (eds.) (2007). Inductive Reasoning: Experimental, Developmental, and Computational Approaches. Cambridge University Press. Hyde, A., McDonnell, O. and Lohan, M. (2004). Sociology for Health Professionals in Ireland. 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