Phd Candidate at Arba Minch University

1. ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY
School of Graduate Studies
College of Social Science
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
Program: PhD in Environment and Natural Resource Management
Course: Advanced Research Methods in Geography and Environmental Studies
(GeES-811)
Presentation on Research Philosophy
By: Zewde Alemayehu
Instructor: Abera Uncha (PhD)
Arba Minch, Ethiopia
November 2018

2. The Philosophy of Research
 Philosophy is a system of beliefs and assumptions about development of knowledge.
It is the study of the most general and abstract features of the world and the categories with
which we think.
 In philosophy the concepts with which we approach the world themselves become the topic
of enquiry.
 Investigation of nature, causes or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical
reasoning rather than empirical methods.
 The study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality, knowledge and goodness, as
discoverable by human reasoning.

3. Philosophy…
 Research philosophy is an over-arching term relating to the development of knowledge
and the nature of that knowledge.
 Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts.
 It is a choice of approach
 All research is guided by a set of philosophical beliefs
 The philosophical beliefs influence or motivate the selection of topics for research.
 And also it influences the manner in which completed research projects are subjected to
evaluation

4. Philosophy…
 A well-thought-out and consistent set of assumption will constitute a credible research
philosophy.
 There is no right or wrong research philosophy, but a well argued case for the one you prefer
showing understanding of alternatives
 Research philosophy will guide the methodology and the overall approach to PhD
dissertation.
 It’s hard but vital! An understanding of alternative philosophies will make a
much better researcher.

5. Philosophy…
Why philosophy?
All research is based on assumptions
 About how the world is perceived
 About how we can best come to understand it.
 Nobody really knows how we can best understand the world
 Philosophers have been arguing about it for 1000s of years,
 For us, as researchers, need to consider how we know about the world around us.

6. Philosophy…
How to determine your own research philosophy
Consider your own research background/experience
 Consider your topic (theoretical basis, research subjects, desired knowledge etc)
 Read widely on research philosophy – there are many often contrasting and contradictory
views
 Many more specific views e.g. relativism, subjectivism, hermeneutics, deconstructivism,
constructivism, feminism etc.
 Engage in philosophical debate with peers, supervisors, yourself
 Show this in your thesis, building a case for your own philosophical stance
 Let this then lead your methodology

7. Philosophy…
Paradigms/ School of thought
Paradigms is the way you see something, your point of view, frame of reference or belief
 It is the way we perceive, understand and interpret the world
 A paradigm is like a map in our head.
 We assume that the way we “see” things is the way they really are or the way they should be.

8. Philosophy…
A Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift is a way of looking something differently.
 When we make a paradigm shift we can see, think, feel and behave differently.
 Example: Ptolemy thought the earth was the
center of the universe.
 Copernicus believed the sun was the center of the
universe. (There is a paradigm shift)
 Not all paradigm shifts are instantaneous– some happen gradually over time.

9. Philosophy…
There are a number of Paradigms/schools of thought on the best way to approach the
relationship between society, space, place and environment.
1. Empiricism:
 Refers to the school of thoughts where facts are believed to speak for themselves and
require little theoretical explanation.
 It holds that science should only be concerned with objects in the world and seek factual
content about them.

10. Philosophy…
 As such, all knowledge is derived from the evidence provided by the senses and
processed in an inductive fashion.
 Normative questions concerning the values and intensions of a subject(s) are excluded
as we cannot scientifically measure them.
 Empiricism is based around the notion that science can only be concerned with
empirical questions

11. Philosophy…
2. Positivism
 Positivism argues that by carefully and objectively collecting data regarding social
phenomena, we can determine laws to predict and explain human behavior in terms of cause
and effect.
 Like empiricism, Positivism reject normative questions that can not be measured
scientifically (relating to being).
 Positivism differs from empiricism because it requires propositions to be verified (logical
positivism) or hypothesis falsified (critical rationalism) rather than just simply presenting
findings
 Comte cited in Unwin (1992) notes that the term ‘positivism’ to refers to the actual, the
certain, the exact and the relative rather than the imaginary, the undecided and the
undecided.
 Reality consists of what is available to the senses- that is, what can be seen, smelt, touched,
etc.

12. Philosophy…
 The goal of knowledge is simply to describe the phenomena that we experience
 Study what we can observe and measure
 Impossible to know about anything else
 Deductive reasoning to postulate theories that we can test
 Empiricism -- the idea that observation and measurement is the core of the scientific
endeavour
 Main method is the experiment, the attempt to discern natural laws through direct
manipulation and observation

13. Philosophy…
Post-positivism
 Rejection of positivist ideas has lead to an array of alternative approaches
 One end of post-positivism
 Critical realism - there is a reality independent of our thinking about it that science can
study. Recognizes that all observation is fallible and has error and that all theory is revisable
 The other post-positivist extreme
 Subjectivism - there is no external reality . It’s all in our heads!

14. Philosophy…
Post-positivism generally
Multiple measures and observations, each of which may possess different types of error,
 Triangulation across these multiple errorful sources to try to understand better what's
happening in reality.
 All observations are theory-laden
 All researchers are inherently biased by their cultural experiences, world views etc
 Most post-positivists are constructivists who believe that we each construct our view of the
world based on our perceptions of it
 Objectivity by triangulation across multiple fallible perspectives. Thus, objectivity is not the
characteristic of an individual, it is inherently a social phenomenon

15. Philosophy…
Objectivity without positivism?
“ The best way for us to improve the objectivity of what we do is to do it within the context of
a broader contentious community of truth-seekers (including other scientists) who criticize
each other's work.
 The theories that survive such intense scrutiny are a bit like the species that survive in the
evolutionary struggle. (This is sometimes called the natural selection theory of knowledge
and holds that ideas have 'survival value' and that knowledge evolves through a process of
variation, selection and retention).
They have adaptive value and are probably as close as our species can come to being
objective and understanding reality” William Trochim, (2002) Research Methods
Knowledgebase

17. Key Features of Positivist and Phenomenological Paradigms
Phenomenological paradigm Positivist paradigm
Basic beliefs:
Science is driven by human interest Observer is independent
The world is socially constructed and subjective Science is value-free
Observer is part of what is observed The world is external and objective
Researchers should:
Try to understand what is happening Focus on facts
Develop ideas through induction from evidence Formulate and test hypotheses
Focus on meanings Look for causality and fundamental laws
Look at totality of each situation Reduce phenomena to simplest elements
Preferred methods:
Small samples investigated in depth or over time Take large samples
Use multiple methods to establish different views of phenomena Operationalise concept so they can be measured
Easterby-Smith, Thorpe & Lowe 1994 pp. 27

18. Positivist paradigm Phenomenological paradigm
Basic beliefs: The world is external and objective
Observer is independent
Science is value-free
The world is socially constructed and subjective
Observer is part of what observed
Science is driven by human interests
Researcher
should:
Focus on facts
look for causality and fundamental laws
reduce phenomena to simplest events
formulate hypotheses and then test them
Focus on meanings
try to understand what is happening
look at the totality of each situation
develop ideas through induction form data
Preferred
methods include:
Operationalising concepts so that they can be measured
taking large samples
Using multiple methods to establish different
views of phenomena
small samples investigated in depth or over time

19. Considerations for successful research
Validity Does an instrument measure what it is
supposed to measure?
Has the researcher gained full access to
the knowledge and meanings of
informants?
Reliability Will the measure yield the same results on
different occasions (assuming no real
change in what is to be measured)?
Will similar observations be made by
different researchers on different
occasions?
Generalisability What is the probability that patterns
observed in a sample will also be present
in the wider population from which the
sample is drawn?
How likely is it that ideas and theories
generated in one setting will also apply in
other settings?
Positivist viewpoint Phenomenological viewpoint

20. Deductive vs Inductive reasoning

21. Circular model of research process
 Inductive: begin at A
(observation/description)
, proceed to B (analysis),
arrive at C (explanation)
 Deductive: begin at C
(hypothesis), proceed to
A (gathering data to test
hyp), proceed to B to test
hyp against data
A: observation/ description
B: Analysis
C: Explanation/ Hypotheses/ Theory

22. Philosophy…
3. Pragmatism
 Argue that understanding must be inferred from
 Behavior and rooted in experiences, not knowledge.
 By exploring the lives of people within a community, it
 Is hoped that the nature of the beliefs and attitudes
 Which shape society will be uncovered.
 Concerned with the construction of meaning through practical activity.
 Problem centered, real world practice oriented

23. Philosophy…
4. Phenomenology
 Rejects the scientific, quantitative approaches of positivism
 Instead Suggests that we concentrate upon understanding rather than explaining the
world.
 The goal of phenomenology is to reconstruct the worlds of individuals, their actions,
and the meaning of the phenomena in those worlds to understand individual behavior
without drawing upon supposed theories.
 Phenomenology is sometimes considered a philosophical perspective as well as an
approach to qualitative methodology. It has a long history in several social research
disciplines including psychology, sociology and social work. Phenomenology is a
school of thought that emphasizes a focus on people's subjective experiences and
interpretations of the world. That is, the phenomenologist wants to understand how the
world appears to others.

24. Philosophy…
5. Realism
 Concerns the identification of how something happens (causal mechanisms).
 Realists want to find out what produces changes, what makes things happen and what
allows or forces changes.
6. Postmodernism
 Argues that there is no one absolute truth and that there is no truth outside
interpretation.
 Postmodernism, rather than seeking ‘truth’, offers ‘readings’ rather than
‘observation’, and ‘interpretations’ rather than ‘findings’.
 Seeks inter-textual relations rather than causality.

25. Philosophy…
7. Feminism
 Suggest that there needs to be renegotiation of the role and structure of institutions and the
production of knowledge.
There needs to be renegotiation of power relation within society so that how we come to
know the world is more reflective of people living in it.