HLSC 3P37 Lecture Notes - Historical Realism, Postpositivism, Basic Belief
28 Oct 2018
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HLSC 3P37: Week 3 Readings
COMPLEX RESEARCH TERMINOLOGY SIMPLIFIED
Paradigm: basic belief systems based on assumptions. There is no way to prove one paradigm is better than another.
These assumptions are so interrelated with inquiry paradigms, that answering one limits the ability to answer
another
Ontology: “to-be”. Beliefs about the nature of reality. Study of our existence/reality/being
o What exists?
o What is true?
o How can we sort existing things?
▪ Epistemology: examines relation between knowledge and researcher
• How we come to know what we know?
▪ Methodology: the way we discover knowledge systematically; driven by ontological and
epistemological beliefs
Major inquiry paradigms:
o (Quantitative) Positivism (modernism: generalized truths about reality; search for universal laws
and certainty)
▪ Searches for “the truth”; there is an objective constant reality that exists and can be
measured objectively
• Ontology: realism: on reality exists that can be found
• Epistemology: dualist and objective
• Methodology: experimental leading to decontextualized results
o Post-positivism: Theory cannot be proven but can disprove alternative explanations; to falsify
rather than prove. Do not believe there is absolute influence of previous knowledge
▪ Ontology: critical realism “truth” exists but cannot be accurately detected
▪ Epistemology: modified dualist and objective
▪ Methodology: modified experimental and interpretive research
(Critical Realism: a realist ontology with a relativist epistemology)
o Critical theory: What is seen as real is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic, and
gender values; these are inaccurate truths but are seen as reality. Values of researcher are
influential
• Ontology: historical realism
• Epistemology: transactional and subjective findings that are influence by values
• Methodology: dialogue based and logical
o (Qualitative) Constructionism
▪ Believes individuals construct meaning/reality based on social interactions therefore
possible to have multiple correct realities
• Ontology: relativism: realities are co-constructed
• Epistemology: interactive/transactional and subjective with co-created findings
• Methodology: qualitative interpretive and logical with a well described context
Realism
Realists believe in:
o “The truth” that is objective, static and measureable
o Context-free generalizations
o Cause and effect laws
o Research that converges on the truth
o Reductionist and deterministic approaches
Relativism: Searches for meaning in experienced of individuals. The belief that reality cannot exist without context
Relativists believe in:
o Searching for meaning rather than truth
o “Truths” are subjective, dynamic and contextual \
