Chapter 2 - Philosophical assumptions and interpretive frameworks
philosophical assumptions
- philosophy means the use of abstract ideas and beliefs that inform our research.
● philosophical assumptions are typically the first ideas in developing a study
but how they relate to the overall process of research remains a mystery.
- there are several reasons why philosophy is important in research:
● it shapes how we formulate our problem and research questions to study and
how we seek information to answer the questions.
● these assumptions are deeply rooted in our training and reinforced by the
scholarly community in which we work.
● unquestionably reviewers make philosophical assumptions about a study
when they evaluate it.
- there are several beliefs in philosophical assumptions:
● ontology: the nature of reality
- when researchers conduct qualitative research, they are embracing
the idea of multiple realities.
● epistemology: what counts as knowledge and how knowledge claims are
justified.
- conducting qualitative study means that researchers try to get as close
as possible to the participants being studied.
● axiology: the role of values in research.
- has to do with the own values the researchers bring into the study.
● methodology: the process of research.
- are characterized by inductive, emerging and shaped by the
researcher’s experience in collecting and analyzing data.
interpretive frameworks
- interpretive frameworks are used in qualitative research, they may be social science
theories to frame their theoretical lens in studies, such as the use of these theories
in ethnography.
● these may be theories of leadership, political influence etc.
● you also have social justice theories these are theories seeking to bring
about change or address social justice issues in our societies.
- postpositivism has the elements of being reductionistic, logical, empirical, cause
and effect oriented and deterministic based on a priori theories.
● they view inquiry as a series of logically related steps, believe in multiple
perspectives from participants rather than a single reality, and espouse
rigorous methods of qualitative data collection and analysis.
● start with theory
,- social constructivism individuals here seek understanding of the world in which
they live and work, they develop subjective meanings of their experiences, meanings
directed to certain objects or things.
● these meanings are varied and multiple, leading the researcher to look for the
complexity of views rather than narrow the meanings into a few categories or
ideas.
● they rely as much as possible on participants’ views of the situation.
● inductive research
- transformative frameworks knowledge is not neutral and it reflects the power and
social relationships within society, and thus the purpose of knowledge construction is
to aid people to improve society.
● specific social issues help organize the research questions.
- postmodern perspectives the basic concept is that knowledge claims must be set
within the conditions of the world today and in the multiple perspectives of class,
race, gender and other group affiliations.
● the conditions include the importance of different discourses, the importance
of marginalized people and groups and the presence metanarratives or
universals that hold true regardless of social conditions.
- pragmatism focus on the outcomes of the research than the antecedent conditions.
● what works, works according to pragmatism.
- feminist theories center on and make problematic women’s diverse situations and
the institutions that frame those situations.
- critical theory and critical race theory perspectives are concerned with
empowering human beings to transcend the constraints placed on them by race,
class and gender.
● critical theory can be defined by the particular configuration of methodological
postures it embraces for example ethnographic study.
● critical race theory focuses theoretical attention on race and how racism is
deeply embedded within the framework of American society.
- queer theory is characterized by a variety of methods and strategies relating to
individual identity.
● they focus on how it is culturally and historically constituted, is linked to
discourse, and overlaps gender and sexuality.
- disability theories addresses the meaning of inclusion in schools and encompasses
administrators, teachers and parents who have children with disabilities.
the practice of using social justice interpretive frameworks in qualitative research
- the practice of using social justice interpretive frameworks in a qualitative study
varies and it depends on the framework being used and the particular researcher’s
approach however there are some common elements:
● the problems and the research question explored aim to follow the researcher
an understanding of specific issues
● the procedures of research, such as data collection, data analysis,
representing the material to audiences, and standards of evaluation and
ethics, emphasize an interpretive stance.
, ● ethical practices of the researchers recognize the importance of the
subjectivity of their own lens, acknowledge the powerful position they have in
the research.
● the research may be presented in traditional ways, such as journal articles, or
in experimental approaches.
linking philosophy and interpretive frameworks
- interpretive frameworks do convey different philosophical assumptions and
qualitative researchers need to be aware of this connection
, chapter 4 - five qualitative approaches to inquiry
- narrative research uses a variety of analytic practices and is rooted in different
social and humanities disciplines.
● narrative might be the method, where it begins with the experiences as
expressed in lived and told stories of individuals.
● main elements of narrative research:
- narrative researchers collect stories from individuals about individuals’
lived and told experiences.
- they tell individual experiences and may shed a light on the identities
of how individuals see themselves.
- they can be gathered through many different forms of data such as
through interviews, observations, pictures etc.
- they are chronological, either they are told chronologically or the
researcher makes it chronological.
- they can be analyzed in different ways: thematically, structural or
performance.
- they contain turning points or specific tensions.
- they occur within specific places or situations.
● there are two different lines of narrative:
- one line is to consider the data analysis strategy used by narrative
researcher.
● here the researcher shapes the story.
- another line of thinking is to consider the type of narratives there are
some popular approaches: biographical study, autoethnography
(written and recorded by the individuals who are the subject), life
history etc.
philosophical assumptions
- philosophy means the use of abstract ideas and beliefs that inform our research.
● philosophical assumptions are typically the first ideas in developing a study
but how they relate to the overall process of research remains a mystery.
- there are several reasons why philosophy is important in research:
● it shapes how we formulate our problem and research questions to study and
how we seek information to answer the questions.
● these assumptions are deeply rooted in our training and reinforced by the
scholarly community in which we work.
● unquestionably reviewers make philosophical assumptions about a study
when they evaluate it.
- there are several beliefs in philosophical assumptions:
● ontology: the nature of reality
- when researchers conduct qualitative research, they are embracing
the idea of multiple realities.
● epistemology: what counts as knowledge and how knowledge claims are
justified.
- conducting qualitative study means that researchers try to get as close
as possible to the participants being studied.
● axiology: the role of values in research.
- has to do with the own values the researchers bring into the study.
● methodology: the process of research.
- are characterized by inductive, emerging and shaped by the
researcher’s experience in collecting and analyzing data.
interpretive frameworks
- interpretive frameworks are used in qualitative research, they may be social science
theories to frame their theoretical lens in studies, such as the use of these theories
in ethnography.
● these may be theories of leadership, political influence etc.
● you also have social justice theories these are theories seeking to bring
about change or address social justice issues in our societies.
- postpositivism has the elements of being reductionistic, logical, empirical, cause
and effect oriented and deterministic based on a priori theories.
● they view inquiry as a series of logically related steps, believe in multiple
perspectives from participants rather than a single reality, and espouse
rigorous methods of qualitative data collection and analysis.
● start with theory
,- social constructivism individuals here seek understanding of the world in which
they live and work, they develop subjective meanings of their experiences, meanings
directed to certain objects or things.
● these meanings are varied and multiple, leading the researcher to look for the
complexity of views rather than narrow the meanings into a few categories or
ideas.
● they rely as much as possible on participants’ views of the situation.
● inductive research
- transformative frameworks knowledge is not neutral and it reflects the power and
social relationships within society, and thus the purpose of knowledge construction is
to aid people to improve society.
● specific social issues help organize the research questions.
- postmodern perspectives the basic concept is that knowledge claims must be set
within the conditions of the world today and in the multiple perspectives of class,
race, gender and other group affiliations.
● the conditions include the importance of different discourses, the importance
of marginalized people and groups and the presence metanarratives or
universals that hold true regardless of social conditions.
- pragmatism focus on the outcomes of the research than the antecedent conditions.
● what works, works according to pragmatism.
- feminist theories center on and make problematic women’s diverse situations and
the institutions that frame those situations.
- critical theory and critical race theory perspectives are concerned with
empowering human beings to transcend the constraints placed on them by race,
class and gender.
● critical theory can be defined by the particular configuration of methodological
postures it embraces for example ethnographic study.
● critical race theory focuses theoretical attention on race and how racism is
deeply embedded within the framework of American society.
- queer theory is characterized by a variety of methods and strategies relating to
individual identity.
● they focus on how it is culturally and historically constituted, is linked to
discourse, and overlaps gender and sexuality.
- disability theories addresses the meaning of inclusion in schools and encompasses
administrators, teachers and parents who have children with disabilities.
the practice of using social justice interpretive frameworks in qualitative research
- the practice of using social justice interpretive frameworks in a qualitative study
varies and it depends on the framework being used and the particular researcher’s
approach however there are some common elements:
● the problems and the research question explored aim to follow the researcher
an understanding of specific issues
● the procedures of research, such as data collection, data analysis,
representing the material to audiences, and standards of evaluation and
ethics, emphasize an interpretive stance.
, ● ethical practices of the researchers recognize the importance of the
subjectivity of their own lens, acknowledge the powerful position they have in
the research.
● the research may be presented in traditional ways, such as journal articles, or
in experimental approaches.
linking philosophy and interpretive frameworks
- interpretive frameworks do convey different philosophical assumptions and
qualitative researchers need to be aware of this connection
, chapter 4 - five qualitative approaches to inquiry
- narrative research uses a variety of analytic practices and is rooted in different
social and humanities disciplines.
● narrative might be the method, where it begins with the experiences as
expressed in lived and told stories of individuals.
● main elements of narrative research:
- narrative researchers collect stories from individuals about individuals’
lived and told experiences.
- they tell individual experiences and may shed a light on the identities
of how individuals see themselves.
- they can be gathered through many different forms of data such as
through interviews, observations, pictures etc.
- they are chronological, either they are told chronologically or the
researcher makes it chronological.
- they can be analyzed in different ways: thematically, structural or
performance.
- they contain turning points or specific tensions.
- they occur within specific places or situations.
● there are two different lines of narrative:
- one line is to consider the data analysis strategy used by narrative
researcher.
● here the researcher shapes the story.
- another line of thinking is to consider the type of narratives there are
some popular approaches: biographical study, autoethnography
(written and recorded by the individuals who are the subject), life
history etc.
