Phd education /research class dis 2 - Coursework Example

March 2, Discussion 2 I agree, totally, with Creswell’s alignment of research philosophies with research method, even though Ido not advocate for use of the alignment as a set of rules for determining applicable research method in a study. The author aligns qualitative research with constructivism, quantitative research with postpositivism, mixed research method with pragmatism (Creswell, 2009), and the features of the research methods that identify with the aligned philosophies informs my position.

Qualitative research method, for example, focuses on establishing in-depth knowledge on a subject for theory development and is therefore consistent with constructivism’s scope that includes understanding from social environments towards generating theory. Postpositivism involves observation and interpretation of empirical data for hypothesis and theory testing and these features matches the scope of quantitative method that investigates significance of observed relations and differences. The scope of pragmatism however overlaps from constructivism to postpositivism to suggest integration of the two philosophy and a mixed research method (Creswell, 2009; Beck, Bryman, and Liao, 2004).

The alignment is partially flexible because of the overlapping scope of pragmatism theory, considered with mixed research design. Qualitative and qualitative research can therefore be pragmatic but qualitative research cannot be postpositivist and quantitative research cannot be constructivist. The philosophical worldview that an individual holds frames research interest that then defines applied approach in a study. With my postpositivist worldview, for example, I am likely to focus on determination and testing of observed or perceived relationships for verifying existing assumptions and this would favor quantitative research method (Reylands, 2006).

I therefore agree with Creswell’s alignment of research philosophies and research methods and believe that biasness towards a philosophy influences a researcher’s interest that defines research design. ReferencesBeck, M., Bryman, A., and Liao, T. (2004). The SAGE encyclopedia of social science research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Reynolds, P. D. (2007). A primer in theory construction (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.