Understanding Research Philosophy Why Is It Important Sociology Essay

Understanding Research Philosophy Why Is It Important Sociology Essay Many of us believe that research is always related to activities that are hidden and mostly strictly confidential from our knowledge and in our daily life (Altinay and Paraskevas, 2006). In addition, majority of us also believed that these activities are held in laboratories, in some aspect this is partly correct, in a sense that the research done by people in laboratories follows certain scientific strategies and methodologies. However, there are also a growing number of individuals such as business managers, marketers, academics and students who at the present time conduct a thorough research outside laboratories in order to develop and produce knowledge relevant to the business world or any particular interest. With this regard, the difference between the researchers are in their research approaches, strategies and philosophies. These differences are their perception of how the knowledge can be created and constructed in a rigorous and meaningful way in order to answer a research problem. (Altinay and Paraskevas 2008:69). Research philosophy is defined as the development of knowledge and the nature of knowledge (Saunders, et al., 2009). The meaning might sound rather profound, however, the author further explained that the basic meaning of the definition is precisely the exact thing every researcher is doing when he or she is conducting a research and that is the will to develop knowledge in a particular field. According to Crossan (2003) on paper about Research Philosophy: Towards and Understanding, (Crossan 2003), there are several reasons on why researchers needs to understand philosophical issues before embarking themselves in a particular field. Easterby-Smith, et al. (2002), identifies three reasons on why there is significance on understanding philosophies in reference to research methodology. The first reason the author added is that by understanding research philosophy the researcher may refine and clarify the research method to be used in their study and consequently help the researchers to gather their evidence and to answer their research questions. Secondly, the knowledge of research philosophy will enable to assist the researchers with different types of methodologies and as such avoiding inappropriate and unrelated works. Lastly, by understanding the basic meaning of research philosophy and understanding its advantages and benefits, it helps the researcher to be more creative and exploratory in their method of research. Saunders, et al. (2009) added, that in research philosophy each researcher follows important views on how they perceived the world. Furthermore, this views and assumptions will greatly affect the research strategy and methodology a researcher chooses as part of its approach. Research methods can be described and classified into different levels (Clark, 1998). In addition, Saunders, et al. (2009) also pointed out that the levels of research methods a researcher should adopt will contain his or her views about the world. These views will actually support the researchers judgment on which research method the researcher should choose as a part of its strategy (Saunders, et al., 2009). In the social science world however, there is an ongoing debate to which is the most appropriate standpoint from the views of positivism and the non-positivism/ interpretativism (Saunders, et al., 2009). According to Saunders, et al. (2009), if a researcher reflects the philosophy or the views of positivism, then most probably the researcher will take on the philosophical instance of natural scientist. Positivism according to Veal (2006) is a framework of research similar to the views and assumptions adopted by natural scientist, in which the researchers view the people and its behaviour as phenomena to be studied, using facts and observations as its strategy to explain the phenomena. Saunders, et al., (2009) also added that positivism views mostly prefer working in an observable social reality and will have an end product research similar to those produced by a natural scientist. Furthermore, researcher with positivism views will only observe a phenomenon which is observable and will end up producing credible data. In addition, the author also argued that one of the essential elements of a positivist approach is that the views of the researcher are not influenced on value of judgements. Interpretivism on the other hand, strongly believes that it is imperative for a researcher to understand the factors and differences between humans in our role as social actors (Saunders, et al., 2009). To clarify, the author further discussed that these belief is plainly to emphasise the difference between conducting research among people rather than materials or object. Saunders, et al.( 2009) also argued that the complexity of the position of interpretivism comes from two intellectual traditions namely; phenomenology and symbolic interactionism. To explain, the author identifies phenomenology as referring to the way the human beings make sense to the world and the surrounding, while the symbolic interactionism, the human being are in the continual process of interpreting the surrounding social world. In social world, Smith (1998) argued that positivism is most probably the most important attempt in order to have authoritative knowledge. The author also added that the positive approach to social sciences is more of a scientific method because a researcher with positivism philosophy will always assume that everything and every phenomenon can be studied as hard facts and as such establish scientific laws. Although, for some researchers they believe that it is imperative to use the traditional approach of research such as the naturalist or scientific method in order to explain phenomena or any occurrence in the physical and life science (Remenyi, et al., 1998). The author also argued that many scholars however, have proven a point that this is not entirely appropriate to study human beings or the organisations they have created. This point was clearly illustrated on Carr 1967 (cited in, Remenyi et al., 1998:94). I do not wish to suggest that the interference of the social scientist or of the historian can match that of physical scientist in precision, or that their inferiority in this respect is due merely to the greater backwardness of the social sciences. The Human being is on any view the most complex entity known to us, and the study of his behaviour may well involve differences in kind from those confronting the physical scientists. With this regard, many would argue that the study of phenomenology or sometimes called non-positivism is more appropriate method or strategy in order to study peoples behaviour and their organisation (Remenyi, et al, 1998). The author further argued that researchers that has phenomenological views does not deny the importance and relevance of positivism in the study of physical life and sciences, after all, if not because of positivism there will be no enlightenment to the development material reality of the twentieth-century, such as heart transplant and space travels. However, despite the importance of the positivism views, they have poor insights when explaining, why people hate their jobs and most of the time complains about everything, why customer service is normally poor, or why is it that most of employees are motivated with achievement and some are not (Remenyi, et al., 1998). Research Approach According to Saunders, et al. (2009) research approaches are mainly based on the research philosophies, whereby the deductive approach is commonly used by researchers with traditional natural scientific views (positivism), while inductive approach is usually based on phenomenology (interpretivism). Sometimes these research paradigms or approaches are used together in research to explain better an occurrence or phenomena (Gilner, et al., 20000). Furthermore, a deductive approach is an extremely influential and intellectual approach, in which conceptual and theoretical framework is developed and tested using empirical observation (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). An inductive research on the other hand is an approach whereby, the theory is developed from observing an empirical reality, which is typically oppose the deductive method (Hussey and Hussey,1997). Research Strategies Selecting an appropriate research strategy is key to ensuring that research questions are addressed in a way which has value and is congruent with the overall topic, questions and purpose of research (Palliative Medicine 2004; 18:677-684).In relation to, Saunders, et al. (2009) added that most of the research strategies belongs to deductive approach. The author also argued that even it is imperative to allocate strategies, it is important to remember that there is no superior or inferior type of strategy, all strategies are important to every researcher; however, their use will entirely depend on the field of study the researcher will embark on. According to Robson (1993) there are three traditional research strategies, namely; Experiment, Survey and Case Studies. However, Saunders, et al., (2009) added that research strategies should not be restricted on one strategy per study; it is also possible that survey strategy can be as part of case study. Apart from the relation of experiment to natural and social sciences, Saunders, et al. (2009) also defines experiment as, the study of casual links between an independent and dependent variable. Therefore, experiments are commonly use as a basis of explanatory research in answering the questions how and why. Survey is a popular strategy in conducting a research, as it allows a large amount collection of data from a chosen sample (Saunders, et al., 2009). Additionally, the author also pointed out that survey is essential in the collection of quantitative data whereby the researcher can analyse the data quantitatively by using inferential statistics. The last on the tradition research strategies according to Saunders, et al. (2009), is the case study; the author identifies this research method as commonly used in social sciences in order to have a more in-depth study of a particular individual or a group for that matter. Approach for this Study In the past, many scholars and researchers considered positivism as the correct scientific paradigm to the study of marketing (Carson, et al., 2001). This argument has also been supported by European Journal of Marketing, 28 (3) 1994, whereby the author suggested that the researchers needs to rethink the marketing research methods and answer questions such as, why do qualitative studies lack of acceptance in marketing? (Hunt,1994:13-25). According to (Carson, et al., 2001), after the aggressive and long time debate about the relevance of the approaches of scientific theories on the marketing study (see for example the European Journal of Marketing, 28 (3) 1994), the author considers the qualitative research method in the perspective of marketing as a suitable research approach for this study. In addition, Carson, et al. (2001) also discussed that interpretivsim is more suitable in the study of marketing as its approach to is in a more personal level in answering the problems in social field such as understanding the reality. Furthermore, the author also identified its position to marketing research as skewed toward interpretive end of the spectrum. (See figure 1) SPECTRUM.jpg Figure 1. The authors position to marketing research (Adapted from Carson, et al. (2009:14) In terms or research strategy, Bonoma (1985) argued that case study is a popular method amongst many marketers. In addition, the author defines case study as a well-suited approach to marketing, moreover, the pattern of case study strategy in the field of marketing is highly recognise as means to generate exploratory insights.

Essay --

This essay offers a contextual, and theoretical explanation as to why Stereoscopes are a product of modernity: drawing particular attention to the stereoscope - that enables what many viewers perceive as a greater level of realism in the cinematic image -, existing arguments around the topic which have been developed to interpret and explain its social significance within the modern period. The discussion begins with an informative differentiation of both ideologies, which we identify as Modernism and Modernity; the second paragraph, is a brief background of the optical instrument which hopefully bleeds into the main body of ideas conceived from thorough research via David Trotter, Jonathan Crary and Goethe. My interest in this particular subject arose out of empirical knowledge of cameras from studying Photography at A Level and a prior thesis I conducted in regards to Capitalism: Slavery, an excerpt by filmmaker Ken Jacobs. A metaphorical screening considering the relationship of b oth fields not only in their shared money form but also the difference surrounding these two highly charged and complex kinds of bodies: the slave body and the corporate body which in reality are the a biological form and a wealth form. Modernism indicates a branch of movements in art (Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism; Cubism; Expressionism; Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art. Etc.) with distinct characteristics, it firmly rejects its classical precedent and classical style, what Walter Benjamin would refer to as â€Å"destructive liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage†; and it explores the etiology of a present historical situation and of its attendant forms of self-consciousness in the West. Whereas Modernity is often used as ... .... 'It is a moment when the visible escapes from the timeless incorporeal order of the camera obscura and becomes lodged in another apparatus, within the unstable physiology and temporality of the human body'. Crary further demonstrates the shift in vision's location from camera to body by examining the way in which it was reproduced in various optical devices invented during this same period, specifically the stereoscope, the kaleidoscope, the phenakistiscope, and the diorama. His examination is based on a provocative premise: 'There is a tendency to conflate all optical devices in the nineteenth century as equally implicated in a vague collective drive to higher and higher standards of verisimilitude' (110). According to Crary, such an approach tends to neglect entirely how some of these devices were expressions of what he calls 'nonveridical' models of perception.

Poetry Analysis Essay

The poem is quick to assert that, maybe even provide a caveat, that one should take their life seriously and live their life to the fullest. It’s interesting that Byron beings to reflect on his life at this age, and I find it even more interesting that the poem was written on the last year he would live. One thing Byron emphasizes heavily on this poem is love and compassion. His first lines are an admittance that he does not have a partner by his side (lines 5-8). Many people fear dying alone, and Byron is not immune to such anxiety. Byron is even envious for those who have found love (lines 13-15). The â€Å"Chain† Byron says he wears symbolizes loneliness, perhaps even failure. He fears that his ultimate failure in life would be his lack of a companion, and that he cannot fill that void. I think Byron than goes on to say that love is happiness: and to have an absence in love would leave a person empty. Byron realizes he has failed in the one area he defines to be the most important and to recover from that and at least die in an honorable/memorable way is to take the soldier’s death. Since he has no significant other to speak highly of him when he is gone, he could at least have his fellow brothers-in-arms speak of him when he’s gone (most likely due to the soldier’s death). Overall, I’d say Byron is quite malcontented with how he’s lived his life. But I would say he was rather too harsh on himself, he fails to recognize all the great and wonderful things he has achieved in his life. But I also know that no one can determine whether or not someone was successful in life; that can only be determined by how that individual perceives themselves. The poem as a whole seems to be a reflection, but also a sad epiphany that Byron has not done all that he could have done with his life. This leads to the reoccurring theme that has been illustrated by almost all poets of this age: The ‘carpe diem’ seize the day/moment mentality. Darkness At the beginning lines of the poem, Byron sets up the reader to understand that this vision of the future, while not a current reality, could easily become so if mankind does not change his interaction with the environment. A cataclysmic event has occurred in which the sun is destroyed. For the eco-critic, this could be representative of any sort of environmental issue that is the result of man’s irreverence for the Earth – nuclear war, pollution, overpopulation. The poem does not need to explain how the sun was destroyed, just that the event happened and as a result, mankind’s decent into chaos and death was imminent. Mankind’s reaction to the event is to burn both civilization and nature in order to provide fuel to continue its existence. The next section forewarns the reader that following environmental catastrophe will be nothing but destruction. The destruction of nature occurs in the form of the overuse of resources, such as animals for food and trees for fuel. Men and animals would seemingly succumb to an almost hysteric state in which the law of survival becomes the only law, which is heralded as truth. This state of kill or be killed ultimately produced more concerns for the fate of mankind. Not only has the environment begun to be destroyed, here represented by the loss of the sun, but what few resources remain are being consumed at an unsustainable rate. The eco-critic understands that the population of the Earth can and should only become as large as is sustainable by the resources available to it. Byron illustrates this concept through the introduction of famine in the next section of his text. â€Å"The crowd was famish’d by degrees; but two of an enormous city did survive, and they were enemies. † The ultimate warning of eco-criticism is that the result of the widespread destruction of the environment is the widespread destruction of the human race. Byron has created a world in which the only two remaining humans cling to whatever life they have left in the form of a metaphorical flame. The last section of â€Å"Darkness† leaves the reader with a haunting image of a world in which nothing living exists. According to the eco-critic, this is the warning that Byron is delivering to us: either we change our ways and amend our neglect of environmental duty and responsibility, or we eventually perish. The destruction of mankind will come at its own hands, whether it is through environmental cataclysm, overpopulation and the subsequent war and famine, or through the slow poisoning of the Earth. Darkness† is a vehicle by which the eco-critic can forewarn the reader to change. Eco-Criticism, then, becomes a vehicle for change and hope. It is not merely about the destruction of the world, but hope that destruction can be avoided. Epitaph on an Infant This is a short poem, but still has a lot of meaning behind it, pertaining to the circle of life and death. Coleridge is saying that death can come at anytime and any moment, and seize anyone it pleases. Taking the b aby’s life shouldn’t be viewed as an evil or injustice, but rather part of the cycle. The first line can be interpreted to mean that the baby was never able to become exposed to the horrors of the world (sin) or be in the world for too long to have its loss be heart-breaking (sorrow). Not saying the loss of the baby was not a saddening thing, but Coleridge is saying the baby was not in this world long enough for it to be a huge loss. The last line is hopeful, saying the baby was able to â€Å"blossom there†, with there meaning heaven obviously. This, I feel, is how Coleridge viewed situations where the cycle of life seemed to break its own norms with taking a life that many would view as too early to take. This is for those who never got to grasp the mentality that many Romantic embraced during this time, of seizing the day, and living life to its fullest, not having any regrets. Of course, the baby (or any other youngling) is unable to even encounter such mentalities or form its own attitude for life. Even the length of the poem is symbolic; it represents the life span of the young babe, and how short life can ultimately be if one does not take their time to sit back and enjoy it a bit. Human Life Here’s how I interpreted this poem to be, line (cluster) by line (cluster). Lines 1-4: if the human body dies, the soul lives on forever. Lines 5-6: A human is comprised of three things, mind, body, and spirit. Lines 7-9: Everybody dies at some point in their life, and while to may try to prolong it, it is ultimately unavoidable. Lines 10-14: Nature will choose when everyone dies, it does not discriminate. Lines 15-17: When everything does not seem to be going your way, look through your previous dreams, hopes, and fears. Then reflect, and see if everything is as bad as you are making things out to be. Lines 18-22: remember though that each previous event echoes other ones and to be honest why do we wallow in things that are not important, and yet we hide ourselves from matters of much more importance? Lines 23-26: Why do we compare ourselves to events in the past instead of matters in the present moment or future? The past does not change, but we are shaped from it. Lines 27-28: Humans feel what they feel for no apparent reason; yet they seek reasons for why they feel the way they do. And the final line (29): All of a human’s life is nothing but a contradiction. A human will seek answers to many of life’s questions within themselves, but will always have conflict within. With this poem, Coleridge takes a more dark approach to the cycle of life, with his central theme of the poem being clearly stated at the very end â€Å"A beings being is contradiction†. He takes the approach to life of many people spend hours, days, weeks even contemplating the reasons for the seasons, our existence, why we die, and all other philosophical questions; and he asks â€Å"Why even bother seeking such answers? †. Death is unavoidable, and those who try to prolong it or even avoid it, are just walking contradictions. Why try to go against what is everyone’s fate in the end? Coleridge purposes such ideas and asks provocative questions to get his readers to think: Is it wiser to spend one’s life contemplating matters that way over everyone’s head, or rather just accept that your life as you know it will end one day, but in the meantime do your best to live it and not let anything shackle you to the bonds of â€Å"I can’t therefore I won’t†. Once again, the Romantic theme of ‘carpe-diem’ is sensed as a undertone to this poem, as Coleridge is warning people to not let the worldly matters trouble them, instead seek out the best in your life. Ode On The Death Of A Favorite Cat Drowned In A Tub Of Goldfishes This poem was quite uncommon for its time, but it still shared the qualities that make the readers think about life, death, and the cycle of the two. The reader is taken on a journey into the life of this cat, Selima, experiencing not only the beauty that is said creature, but also the sad end she came to, quite undeservingly. The third person view Grey utilizes helps show the struggle between life (the cat) versus nature. With the tone being deadly erious, Grey is showing a portrait of the cat as a cat with her â€Å"conscious tale† and â€Å"ears of jet† ( lines 7,11), trying to accomplish no more than procuring a goldfish for lunch. However, the tale takes a deadly turn when the fated Selima goes a paw too far and tumbles face-first into the goldfish tub. The reader, through this tone (which some might call mock-heroic, could they not see the utter tragedy and seriousness of Selima’s fate), is t aken into the life and death of a cat who was merely hungry; alas, she ends up swimming with the fishes. The golden hue of the fish is what catches the tabby’s attention, and the cat then tries to catch it’s lunch. Eventually, the cat falls into the pond, and struggles for a while, with no help coming. This can be seen as no matter what you do in your life, when things really matter (such as a life and death situation), the only person one can rely on is themselves. Unfortunately, Grey has a grim way to convey that. The cat surfaces eight times, each time her life force growing weaker and weaker against the struggle†¦ ntil eventually Selima, having exhausted all her life, sinks amidst the objects of her lunchtime ambitions. Grey’s powerful message here is clear; be careful where you step, as you may fall into a pond of goldfish and drown. Furthermore, Gray implies, what you covet, though it may be beautiful, may lead you to your death. This can be tied back to the theme of not taking life for granted, and making each day yours. Should one be weighed down with m aterial possessions and worldly goods, they are depriving themselves of the ultimate ‘good’, life itself.

Compare Contrast Mrs. Mallard, The Story of an Hour to...

Diverse authors use diverse strategies to catch a readers attention. Both Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were women ahead of their time; they wrote stories that were socially unacceptable but are now considered some of the greatest. In Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, dies of a heart attack after hearing of her husbands death. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper with a blasphemous plot at the time: a woman, Jane, bedridden because of depression, begins to see a woman underneath the wallpaper of her rented mansion. By the end of the story, Jane believes that she is the woman under the wallpaper. In both stories, the diseased and doubted women enclose serious mental and†¦show more content†¦The doubt and misconstruction placed upon the women in the stories is a huge factor in the way their characters develop. Mrs. Mallards sickness was misdiagnosed by both her family and doctor. They believed she suffered from h eart problems but no evidence of this was produced during the story. When Mrs. Mallard was up in her room, her sister, Josephine, was worried that Mrs. Mallard would make herself ill because she was alone and suffering from her husbands death. Chopin gives the reader an insight as to Mrs. Mallards thoughts by using a third person limited omniscient narrator, and by doing so, allows the reader to understand that Mrs. Mallards familys ideas of her health were false. Near the end of the story the doctors and Mrs. Mallards family believe that she has had a heart attack because she was happy to see that her husband was alive, while in actuality, she died because didnt want to live if she had to live with him. Janes illness was also doubted by her family. Jane writes that her husband does not believe I am sick! (Perkins Gilman 424) though she does not mention her concerns on the subject with him. Jane is upset because John, a physician of high standing, and ones own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one (425). Her brother, also a doctor, agrees with Johns report on Jane. John even comments that Jane shall be as sick as she pleases (430). Jane continues to hearShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin s The Yellow Wallpaper1415 Words   |  6 Pagescan be seen in Kate Chopin’s writing called, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s writing called, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† There are many similarities and differences between both Victorian women’s perspectives and writing. This paper will compare and contrast the short stories written by Kate Chopin and Charlotte Gilman. When the audience reads both Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and Charlotte Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† there is a strong voice of Victorian women. TheRead MoreThe Knife1115 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish  /  Short Stories- amp;Quot;The Knifeamp;Quot; By Judah Waten Textual AnalysisShort Stories- amp;Quot;The Knifeamp;Quot; By Judah Waten Textual AnalysisThis  essay Short Stories- amp;Quot;The Knifeamp;Quot; By Judah Waten Textual Analysis  is available for you on Essays24.com! Search Term Papers, College Essay Examples and Free Essays on Essays24.com - full papers database. Autor:  Ã‚  anton  Ã‚  24 November 2010Tags:   StoriesWords:  2398  Ã‚  Ã‚  |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pages:  10Views:  1338Save essay in my profilePrintable