Assoc . Prof Dr.

Azizah Abdul Rahman

PARADIGM
 Paradigm comes from the Greek paradeiknyai - to
show side by side – and is a pattern or example of
something. The word connotes the ideas of a mental
picture or pattern of thought (Shtarkshall, 2004)
 a conceptual framework for seeing and making sense
of the social world
 "To be located in a particular paradigm is to view the
world in a particular way.“ (Burrell & Morgan, 1979)
 shapes how we perceive the world and are reinforced
by those around us, the community of practitioners
RESEARCH PARADIGM: Definition
 a framework within which theories are built, that
fundamentally influences how you see the world,
determines your perspective, and shapes your
understanding of how things are connected.

 Holding a particular world view influences your

personal behaviour, your professional practice, and
ultimately the position you take with regard to the
subject of your research (Henning et al. ).
RESEARCH PARADIGM: Definition
 basic beliefs that deals with first principles. It represents a
worldview that defines for its holder, the nature of the
“world”, the individual’s place in it, and the range of
possible relationships to that world and its parts …

 The beliefs are basic in the sense that they must be

accepted simply on faith (however well argued); there is
no way to establish their ultimate truthfulness. (Guba and
Lincoln, 1994 p. 107-108)
RESEARCH PARADIGM:
 Universally recognized scientific achievement that
provides model problems and solutions to a
community of practitioners (Kuhn, 1970)

 Commonality of perspective which binds the work of

a group of theorists together (Burrell & Morgan)

 [Research] paradigms define for the [researcher] what

it is they are about, and what falls within and outside
the limits of legitimate [research].” (Guba and
Lincoln, 1994 p. 108)
RESEARCH PARADIGM
 Within the research process the beliefs a researcher holds
will reflect
 in the way they research is designed,
 how data is both collected and analysed
 how research results are is presented.
 For the researcher it is important to recognise their
paradigm, it allows them to :
 identify their role in the research process
 determine the course of any research project
 distinguish other perspectives.
Classifying research paradigms

 the basic beliefs that define a particular research

paradigm may be summarised by the responses given
to three fundamental questions (Guba and Lincoln,
1994) :
 The ontological question i.e. what is the form and nature
of reality
 The epistemological question i.e. what is the basic belief
about knowledge (i.e. what can be known)
 The methodological question i.e. how can the researcher
go about finding out whatever s/he believes can be
known.
Ontology
 A systematic account of Existence

 Nature of the world around us (nature of social

reality)

 (From philosophy) An explicit formal specification

of how to represent the objects, concepts and other
entities that are assumed to exist in some area of
interest and the relationships that hold among
them.
Ontology in Computing Terms
 For AI systems, what "exists" is that which can be represented. When
the knowledge about a domain is represented in a declarative language,
the set of objects that can be represented is called the universe of
discourse. We can describe the ontology of a program by defining a set
of representational terms. Definitions associate the names of entities
in the universe of discourse (e.g. classes, relations, functions or other
objects) with human-readable text describing what the names mean,
and formal axioms that constrain the interpretation and well-formed
use of these terms. Formally, an ontology is the statement of a logical
theory.
 A set of agents that share the same ontology will be able to
communicate about a domain of discourse without necessarily
operating on a globally shared theory. We say that an agent commits to
an ontology if its observable actions are consistent with the definitions
in the ontology. The idea of ontological commitment is based on the
Knowledge-Level perspective.

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Epistemology
 From the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and
logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy
that deals with the nature, origin and scope of
knowledge.

 Refers to our theory of knowledge, in particular, how

we acquire knowledge (Hirschheim, 1992).

 the nature of knowing and construction of knowledge

 divided into the positivist and anti-positivist stance 10

Epistemology
 It addresses the questions:

 What is knowledge?
 How is knowledge acquired?
 What do people know?
 How do we know what we know?
Knowledge (Wikipedia)

•knowledge is justified true belief, in order to know that a given proposition is

true, one must not only believe the relevant true proposition, but one must also
have a good reason for doing so.
•For something to count as knowledge, it must actually be true. There is a sense
that makes us feel that the truth should command our belief.
What is Knowledge?
 Justified true belief (Plato’s Theaetetus)
 The Greeks classify knowledge into 2 types:
 Doxa (believed to be true)
 Episteme (known to be true)
 Doxa  Epistime
 Through Scientific process of inquiry
 How do we know what we know?
 Define knowledge alternatively
 Supported by evidence (usually empirical)
 Conceive knowledge claims in a probabilistic sense
 Knowledge is a matter of societal acceptance
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How is Knowledge Acquired?
 Role of science, where science is a convention, related
to societal norms, expectations, values, etc.
 Thus, is science equals any scholarly attempt at
acquiring knowledge
 Science requires conventions to be followed

15 JULY 2005 PM DR ROSE ALINDA ALIAS 14

 Ontology of Positivism
 Realism
 Universe comprised of objectively given,
immutable objects and structures, existing as
empirical entities, on their own, independent of
the observer’s appreciation of them.
 Contrasts with relativism or instrumentalism,
where reality is a subjective construction of the
mind, thus varying with different languages and
cultures.
 While hugely successful in physical sciences, it is
not as successful for social science.
 Deals with observed and measured knowledge
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Anti-Positivism
 Latter part of 19th century
 Man as an actor could not be studied through the
methods of natural sciences that focus on establishing
general laws. In the cultural sphere man is free
(Burrell and Morgan, 1979)

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Post-Positivism
 Based on the concept of critical realism, that there is a
real world out there independent of our perception of it
and that the objective of science is to try and understand it

 combined with triangulation, i.e., the recognition that

observations and measurements are inherently imperfect
and hence the need to measure phenomena in many ways

 The post-positivist epistemology regards the acquisition of

knowledge as a process that is more than mere deduction.
Knowledge is acquired through both deduction and
induction.

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3 Major Epistemology
 Positivist
 Interpretive
 Critical Thinking

Figure 2. Epistemological Assumptions for Qualitative and Quantitative Research (ISWORLD)

POSITIVIST: Ontology view
 An objective, true reality exists which is governed by
unchangeable natural cause-effect laws
 Consists of stable pre-existing patterns or order that
can be discovered
 Reality is not time- nor context-bound
 Reality can be generalised
 the social world is tangible, hard made up of relatively
immutable structures that exist independently of our
individual descriptions
Interpretive Research
• Assume access to reality (given or socially constructed) is only
through social constructions such as language, consciousness and
shared meanings

• attempt to understand phenomena through the meanings that

people assign to them

• Individuals create the social world; therefore there are multiple

realities.

• (in IS) understanding of the context of the information system,

and the process whereby the information system influences and is
influenced by the context

• focuses on the full complexity of human sense making as the

situation emerges
Critical Research

 assume that social reality is historically constituted

and that it is produced and reproduced by people.
 as being one of social critique, whereby the
restrictive and alienating conditions of the status
quo are brought to light.
 focuses on the oppositions, conflicts and
contradictions in contemporary society, and seeks
to be emancipatory
Positivist Research Methods
 Survey
 Lab experiment
 Mathematical model
Interpretive Research Methods
 Action Research
 Case Study Research
 Ethnography
 Grounded Theory
Class presentation
 Your topic
 Objectives of the research
 Unit analysis
 Your Ontology and epistemology stands
 Other related research
Guidelines for your
thesis/proposal
 A rigorously defensible statement of the identified
research issue or problem.
 A defense of the importance of the research.
 A review of significant prior research.
 A critical review of the chosen research methods
or plan of the attack.
 Research plan covering set timescale.
 A critical review of the potential outcomes of the
research.