First, they are well-suited for exploring hidden reasons behind complex, interrelated, or multifaceted social processes, such as inter-firm relationships or inter-office politics, where quantitative evidence may be biased, inaccurate, or otherwise difficult to obtain. However, there is a need for more material on how to carry out such work from inception to publication. On the contrary, the main objective is to understand in depth the object of study, mainly through observation. See Kuhn’s seminal work for more on paradigms: Kuhn, T. (1962). conduct research in each of the paradigms discussed. The existential phenomenological research method. This is very different from what occurs in quantitative research, in which the relationship between the researcher and the subject of the research does not influence the final outcome of the research. This rigor implies that researcher controls all other variables that can effect the study. The interpretivist/constructivist paradigm grew out of the philosophy of Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology and Wilhelm Dilthey’s and other German philosophers’ study of interpretive understanding called hermeneutics (Mertens, 2005, p.12 citing Eichelberger, 1989). This chapter will explore other kinds of interpretive research. The previous chapter on case research discusses both techniques in depth and provides illustrative exemplars. "Interpretive Paradigm"in: Calameo. For instance, if a study’s participants generally agree with the inferences drawn by a researcher about a phenomenon of interest (based on a review of the research paper or report), then the findings can be viewed as confirmable. Based in part on the ideas of symbolic interactionism, Heidegger thought that to acquire knowledge it is necessary to understand the subjective reality of each one. The credibility of interpretive research can be improved by providing evidence of the researcher’s extended engagement in the field, by demonstrating data triangulation across subjects or data collection techniques, and by maintaining meticulous data management and analytic procedures, such as verbatim transcription of interviews, accurate records of contacts and interviews, and clear notes on theoretical and methodological decisions, that can allow an independent audit of data collection and analysis if needed. Conversely, qualitative studies are based on studying social realities. Scotland, J., 2012. The answers to the research questions can be solv… Blumer was an American philosopher and researcher born at the beginning of the 20th century. Action research is practitioner based research, with the main focus being the transformation of practice. The researcher must be deeply immersed in the social culture over an extended period of time (usually 8 months to 2 years) and should engage, observe, and record the daily life of the studied culture and its social participants within their natural setting. Second, the role of the researcher receives critical attention in interpretive research. The researcher may even change her original research question if she realizes that her original research questions are unlikely to generate new or useful insights. In the Shadow of Illness: Parents and Siblings of the Chronically Ill Child . Third, interpretive analysis is holistic and contextual, rather than being reductionist and isolationist. Lastly, data collection and analysis can proceed simultaneously and iteratively in interpretive research. Third, all participants or data sources may not be equally credible, unbiased, or knowledgeable about the phenomenon of interest, or may have undisclosed political agendas, which may lead to misleading or false impressions. A research paradigm is an approach or a research model to conducting a research that has been verified by the research community for long and that has been in practice for hundreds of years. At the same time, researchers must be fully aware of their personal biases and preconceptions, and not let such biases interfere with their ability to present a fair and accurate portrayal of the phenomenon. This concept is akin to that of internal validity in functionalistic research. Recall that positivist or deductive methods, such as laboratory experiments and survey research, are those that are specifically intended for theory (or hypotheses) testing, while interpretive or inductive methods, such as action research and ethnography, are intended for theory building. Interpretive researchers use qualitative research methodologies to investigate, interpret and describe social realities (Bassey, 1995; Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2000). A third technique is documentation , where external and internal documents, such as memos, electronic mails, annual reports, financial statements, newspaper articles, websites, may be used to cast further insight into the phenomenon of interest or to corroborate other forms of evidence. London: Sage Publications. Hence, convenience samples and small samples are considered acceptable in interpretive research as long as they fit the nature and purpose of the study, but not in positivist research. Ethnography . Hence, action research is an excellent method for bridging research and practice. In that case, using quantitative research, which describes the world in numbers and measures instead of words, is not likely to be productive. It is a form of qualitative research. This is similar to the notion of objectivity in functionalistic research. Figure 10.2. Retrieved on: March 17, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org. Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods . The Goal of an Interpretivist Approach to Research With interpretivist research, the goal is to develop an understanding of the subjects and the topic. A quantitative approach to solve problem is based on highly rigorous, controlled techniques. “see through the smoke” (hidden or biased agendas) and understand the true nature of the problem. - The main research methods of the interpretive paradigm are observation and interview; each one will be used more or less depending on the specific object of study. Hermeneutic circle: Interpretive interpretation is an iterative process of moving back and forth from pieces of observations (text) to the entirety of the social phenomenon (context) to reconcile their apparent discord and to construct a theory that is consistent with the diverse subjective viewpoints and experiences of the embedded participants. Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher born at the end of the 19th century. For our purposes, we’ll define paradigm An analytic lens, a way of viewing the world, and a framework from which to understand the human experience. Examples of questions that may be asked include “can you describe a typical day” or “can you describe that particular incident in more detail?” These interviews are recorded and transcribed for further analysis. Researcher as instrument: Researchers are often embedded within the social context that they are studying, and are considered part of the data collection instrument in that they must use their observational skills, their trust with the participants, and their ability to extract the correct information. The classic example of ethnographic research is Jane Goodall’s study of primate behaviors, where she lived with chimpanzees in their natural habitat at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, observed their behaviors, interacted with them, and shared their lives. Further, their personal insights, knowledge, and experiences of the social context is critical to accurately interpreting the phenomenon of interest. As a researcher you will be curious to know the answers to your research questions. Hence, such research requires an immersive involvement of the researcher at the study site for an extended period of time in order to capture the entire evolution of the phenomenon of interest. Therefore, it is typical of human and social sciences, contrary to the quantitative paradigm that can be found more often in pure sciences. However, the failure of many positivist techniques to generate interesting insights or new knowledge have resulted in a resurgence of interest in interpretive research since the 1970’s, albeit with exacting methods and stringent criteria to ensure the reliability and validity of interpretive inferences. The interpretive paradigm focuses on studying mainly social phenomena, or that have been caused by human beings. Data is collected in interpretive research using a variety of techniques. Findings. Interpretivism. Therefore, it is a type of research that is widely used in sociology, psychology and anthropology. As with any other interpretive approach, drawing meaningful inferences from case research depends heavily on the observational skills and integrative abilities of the researcher. For instance, the researcher may conduct an interview and code it before proceeding to the next interview. Phenomenological analysis should take into account the participants’ temporal landscape (i.e., their sense of past, present, and future), and the researcher must transpose herself in an imaginary sense in the participant’s situati on (i.e., temporarily live the participant’s life). Therefore, this is a specific way of perceiving the world (a worldview) … In general, interpretivists share the following beliefs about the nature of knowing and reality. Confirmability. "Interpretive paradigm"in: More types of. Qualitative research relies mostly on non-numeric data, such as interviews and observations, in contrast to quantitative research which employs numeric data such as scores and metrics. Action research is personal to the researcher, but they do require assistance for others including students and colleagues in order to implement the best possible changes to their practice. In some methods such as ethnography, action research, and participant observation, the researcher is considered part of the social phenomenon, and her specific role and involvement in the research process must be made clear during data analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly , (23), 582-603. Interpretive Research In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. Diagnosing involves identifying and defining a problem in its social context. The interpretive paradigm focuses on the way in which knowledge about individuals and cultures is generated. The analysis then delves into these themes to identify multiple layers of meaning while retaining the fragility and ambiguity of subjects’ lived experiences. He Interpretive paradigm in research It is a way of understanding scientific knowledge and reality. Therefore such studies are mostly conducted in laboratories. Use of expressive language: Documenting the verbal and non-verbal language of participants and the analysis of such language are integral components of interpretive analysis. - Regarding the relationship between the researcher and the object of study, both collaborate and communicate to achieve the best possible version of knowledge. Interpretive methods of research in IS are meant to produce an understanding of the context and the processes of the information systems whereby the information system influences and are influenced by the context (Walsham 1993). For instance, did participants feel safe, free, trapped, or joyous when experiencing a phenomenon (“felt-space”)? Today he is considered one of the most influential modern philosophers. Interpretative research The growing popularity of interpretative research methodologies has led to concern that there is not sufficient understanding of the rigour necessary to ethically utilize them, (Laverty, 2003; Maggs- Rapport, 2001). Inadequate trust between participants and researcher may hinder full and honest self-representation by participants, and such trust building takes time. Third, they are also appropriate for studying context-specific, unique, or idiosyncratic events or processes. The ethnographic research method, derived largely from the field of anthropology, emphasizes studying a phenomenon within the context of its culture. His theory is based on the idea that the reality we experience is mediated by the way we interpret it. Keywords: Research paradigm, Epistemology, Ontology, Methodology, Axiology 1. Because interpretive research is based on different set of ontological and epistemological assumptions about social phenomenon than positivist research, the positivist notions of rigor, such as reliability, internal validity, and generalizability, do not apply in a similar manner. In contrast, positivist research employs random sampling (or a variation of this technique), where cases are chosen randomly from a population, for purposes of generalizability. - The proponents of this research model consider reality as something changing and dynamic, so they would be within phenomenological currents. Interpretive research can be considered credible if readers find its inferences to be believable. This is an interactive design that assumes that complex social phenomena are best understood by introducing changes, interventions, or “actions” into those phenomena and observing the outcomes of such actions on the phenomena of interest. As discussed in the previous chapter, case research is an intensive longitudinal study of a phenomenon at one or more research sites for the purpose of deriving detailed, contextualized inferences and understanding the dynamic process underlying a phenomenon of interest. Naturalistic Inquiry . Why one paradigm is quantitative while other is qualitative in nature? [15] Giorgi, A and Giorgi, B (2003) Phenomenology. Dependability. Sometimes, coded qualitative data is tabulated quantitatively as frequencies of codes, but this data is not statistically analyzed. Action taking is the implementation of the planned course of action. The evaluation stage examines the extent to which the initiated action is successful in resolving the original problem, i.e., whether theorized effects are indeed realized in practice. Interview types and strategies are discussed in detail in a previous chapter on survey research. In this method, the researcher is usually a consultant or an organizational member embedded into a social context (such as an organization), who initiates an action in response to a social problem, and examines how her action influences the phenomenon while also learning and generating insights about the relationship between the action and the phenomenon. - Study of minority groups, such as homosexuals, people with disabilities or people of color, and what differences and difficulties they encounter in their day-to-day lives. For Blumer, scientific research has to be based on the subjective points of view of researchers; According to him, only by uniting his interpretations can true knowledge be reached. Introduction: What Do We Mean by Research Paradigm? The theory is validated by the extent to which the chosen action is successful in remedying the targeted problem. 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