The Different Types of Research Philosophies - Case Study Example

Research Philosophy Research relies on facts and experience, data, concepts and constructs, hypotheses and conjectures, and principles and laws (Amaratunga, Baldry, Sarshar, & Newton, 2002). Research methodology is the procedural framework within which the research is conducted. While positivism (quantitative with hypothesis testing), interpretivism (qualitative with hypothesis generalizations) and realism are the different types of research philosophies, each has its own purposes and advantages. According to Taylor et al., (1995) quantitative data is numerical in form. Questionnaires and interviews are the usual research methods used under this paradigm. Some researchers claim that unless human behavior can be expressed in numerical terms, it cannot be accurately measured (cited by Jones, 2004). Qualitative data covers a range of material collected from previous research, literature review, case studies and unstructured interviews. Some researchers argue that the qualitative approach is better as it provides greater depth. The relationship between research philosophy and research method is important as it allows one to take an informed decision about the research approach, decide which methods are appropriate for the research, and also determine the constraints that may affect the research (Knox, n.d.). Research approach Research philosophy highlights different schools of thought on the how to conduct research. Arguments should be evaluated in different ways because primarily arguments have different roles and purposes and people assess according to the purpose in their mind. At times arguments provide useful information depending on one’s knowledge of how the world works. In a different setting, one can take an abstract approach and ask what follows from a given set of information and then decide on the outcome. Arguments can be evaluated in two qualitatively different ways – in terms of their deductive correctness or in terms of inductive strength (Rips, 2001). Logical positivism employs the quantitative and experimental methods to test deductive generalizations (Amaratunga et al.,). This requires independence of the observer from the subject being observed. Hypotheses have to be formulated in advance for subsequent verification. The explanations in this method are reduced to the simplest possible elements in order to facilitate analysis. Positivism claims that generalizations can be made from a set of events in that past and future decisions can be taken accordingly. The quantitative approach places great stress on numbers that represent opinions or concepts. An objective observation is needed to respond to our research problem. We also want to find results which can be extrapolated. In other words, there is a need to identify general principles of behaviour in order to formulate some recommendations to women suggesting why they should not feel bad about their figure and weight. As this research philosophy is linked with quantitative research, the findings are descriptive and empirical and lend themselves to sophisticated statistical analysis (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004), ensuring reliable and valid results. In the positivist approach empirical truth observation is coupled with the analytical truth of logic. This research will have several variables in which case also a positivist approach will be suitable. Research strategies Amaratunga et al., suggest that research strategy should be chosen as a function of the research situation. Each strategy has its own approach to collect and interpret data and hence its strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some even suggest a mixed or balanced approach. At the same time, there are certain overlapping parameters which make the strategy selection a difficult task. The strategy selection should depend upon the behavioral elements, the degree of focus on past events and the conditions or setting. This research requires primary and secondary research approach and hence both the qualitative method (interpretive or inductive) and the quantitative (positivist or deductive) method of research will be used. Literature review would be used as the qualitative method as a lot of literature is available, with diverse opinions on how women perceive themselves and how the media influences their perception. The deductive method would not bring to light the deeper, underlying meanings and explanations of the data collected. It would enable to understand the totality of the situation and multiple methods can be used to establish different views of the phenomena. Studies would be conducted over a period of time, which would give a realistic view of the change process of over time. This makes it powerful for studying any process. This method has been established to be best strategy for discovery, exploring a new idea or developing hypothesis. The quantitative method provides an opportunity to learn about the women’s attitude and motivation and how they interpret things. The results would also be statistically reliable. Our research problem consists of finding out how women are influenced and what are the various factors that contribute to their perception of a slim figure associated with beauty. Selection of data collection method Wynekoop and Russo (1997) contend that use of multiple research method is necessary to adequately understand and evaluate an activity, process or project. To respond accurately to the objectives of this research, both primary and secondary data are important. Secondary data like literature review permits a quick and easy collection of general information about the subject. A literature review provides the meaningful context of the project within the universe of already existing research (Obenzinger, 2005). Literature review distinguishes what has been done from what is to be done. Previous perspectives can be synthesized and a new one gained. Due to the vast amount of literature available, only the most significant texts will be selected, which itself implies a process of evaluation and prioritization. A literature review would help in emphasizing on the findings of the primary data. Data obtained from secondary sources generate new understand through reflection or knowledge integration (Feurer & Chaharbaghi, 1995). Quantitative investigations look for “distinguishing characteristics, elemental properties and empirical boundaries’ and tend to measure “how much” or “how often” (Nau, 1995 cited by Amaratunga et al.,). Quantitative research designs determine the truth value of propositions and allow flexibility in the treatment of data in terms of comparative analysis, statistical analysis and repeatability of data collection in order to verify reliability. In quantitative analysis data is collected through mail questionnaires, interviews and published statistics (Gable, 1994). The most widely used data collection method is interviews as it is a highly flexible method, can be used almost anywhere and has the potential to produce data of great depth. Apart from interviews, surveys also include self-completion questionnaires. Although surveys and interviews provide valuable data, it is largely reliant upon self-reported practices and knowledge. There is a tendency of over-reporting of behaviours perceived to be good. Hence surveys should be such designed that they report the knowledge and attitudes of the interviewee (Redmond & Griffith, 2003). The research topic has to be seen from the perspective of the interviewee. To determine who defines what is beautiful and whether the women are aware of the problems like anorexic and bulimic in trying to be thin, quantitative data in the form of interviews would be helpful. Interviews would be the best way to achieve these objectives. To be useful, such primary data needs to be analysed (Saunders, 2003, p.327). Sphinx software which is a personal computer based analysis software will be useful to establish relationship between variables. Women of different ages from different nations would be interviewed to get the true picture. To compare the attitudes of women in different countries, survey would be beneficial. Interviewing is a mode of inquiry aimed at understanding an experience and meaning that person make of that experience (Seidman, 1998 cited by Eggenberger & Nelms, 2006). Interviews are more than a data gathering technique. It is a social encounter where knowledge is constructed. The individual in-depth interview allows the interviewer to delve deeply into social and personal matters (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006) and it unveils a person’s emotions, beliefs, problems, experience and actions (Eggenberger & Nelms). This would particularly help with this research as the objective is to determine how women react to the media’s projection of thin women and how they perceive their own body. It would also give an insight into the ideal body image that they consider. Interviews can be close-ended or fixed-alternate answers, or open-ended interviews. For this research, the open-ended interviews have been conducted in which the prepared questions have been reformulated depending upon the responses received. Open-ended interviews tend to be more spontaneous, offering a two-way interaction not generally permitted by the standardized approach (Herod, 1993). Such interviews allow interviewees to introduce topics and speak in their own words rather than in categories dictated by the researcher. This would be particularly helpful for this research because generalizing about beauty and a skinny figure would not serve any purpose. An in-depth interviewing can be an intimate experience and hence only women have been hired to conduct the interview as there exists the possibility of sexual harassment and exploitation. A positivist conception of the approach has been adopted wherein the social interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee is kept to the minimum. It is important for the researcher to maintain the necessary social distance so that she does not bias the outcome of the interview by injecting personal opinion or values. This method ensures objectivity, detachment and hierarchy which are more important than individualized concerns. Self-completion questionnaires would help to determine men’s point of view over skinny women. This method of data collection allows the ability for unambiguous quantitative data to be collected (Redmond & Griffith, 2003). The format has been kept relatively simple and straightforward as there is little control over the respondents’ interpretation of questions. Questionnaires have been sent through mail as well as administered directly on college campus. To deal with a comparison between the UK, Greece, China and Africa and what is perceived as beautiful and sexy in each country, postal questionnaires and online surveys would be most cost-effective. Sending questionnaires through post allows wide geographical areas to be covered at a relatively low cost but there is no control over the external influences and the verification of who actually completes the questionnaires. Those that were given at the college campus and social clubs fetched hundred percent responses. Online surveys were also conducted as internet has become a very popular means of gathering data. It permits quicker answers because respondents can fill and send the questionnaire easily. That’s also why the response rate is quite high. It also allows an easy territorial and geographical coverage. Finally, this method of administrating questionnaires not only avoids any influence of the interviewer on the interviewee’s responses, but also saves costs in relation to sending the questionnaire by post. Nevertheless, not all households have internet and this may create sample biases. Focus-groups are effective in providing information on why people think the way they do. This has certain advantages even over the personal interviews as participants tend to be more comfortable and natural. Besides, they influence and are influenced by others just as they are in real life (Redmond & Griffith, 2003). Focus groups are open yet guided and hence it would help to collect data on how men perceive beauty in women and whether they really think a slim figure scores over physical health. Data thus collected from different forms of interviews and questionnaires would be analysed by the use of scales like Likert scales and Semantic Differential scales. These will permit to measure the attitude of women towards beauty. To determine other objectives like whether it is worth sacrificing health for the sake of a slim figure, it would also help to take family interviews as they too are affected. Secondary data to this effect will also be collected from previous surveys or research from the internet or published journals related to health and families. To determine or define beauty it would have top be through secondary data or literature that is available. Limitations There is no unique research method and each method has its own difficulties. The categories listed for research may not be comprehensive or may require further sub-categories. Besides, it is difficult to predict how many participants would be willing to respond in the first place, and then how many would register true opinions. Attempts have been made to ensure the reliability and validity of the data collected. References: Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M., & Newton, R., (2002), Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the built environment: application of mixed research approach, Work Study, Vol. 15 No. 1 2002, pp. 17-31 DiCicco-Bloom, B., & Crabtree, B. F., (2006), The qualitative research interview, Medical Education 2006; 40: 314–321 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02418.x EGGENBERGER S.K. & NELMS T.P. (2007) Family interviews as a method for family research, Journal of Advanced Nursing 58(3), 282–292 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04238.x Feurer, R., & Chaharbaghi, K., (1995), Researching strategy formulation and implementation in dynamic environments, Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1995, pp. 15-26. Gable, G. G., (1994) Integrating case study and survey research methods: an example in information systems. European Journal of Information Systems 3(2):pp. 112-126. Heord, A., (1993), Gender Issues in the Use of Interviewing as a Research Method, Professional Geographer, 45(3) 1993, pages 305-3 17 Jones, C., (2004), Quantitative and Qualitative Research: Conflicting Paradigms or Perfect Partners?17 Aug 2007 Knox, K., (n.d.), A Researcher’s Dilemma - Philosophical and Methodological Pluralism, 17 Aug 2007 Obenzinger, H., (2005), What can a literature review do for me? 17 Aug 2007 Redmond, E. C., & Griffith, C. J., (2003), A comparison and evaluation of research methods used in consumer food safety studies, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 27, 1, January 2003, pp17–33 Rips, L. J., (2001), Two Kinds of Reasoning, American Psychological Society, Vol. 12 No . 2 pp. 129-134 17 Aug 2007 Schiffman, L.G., Kanuk, L.L. (2004), Consumer Behavior, Pearson Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, . Wynekoop, J., & Russo, N. L., (1997), Studying System Development Methodologies: an examination of research methods, Info Systems J (!997) 7, 47-65 Read More