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Day 3 overview
Overview of research paradigms & methods
Eagle and Condor
Deduction and Induction
Rapanui
Rapanui
Descarte1596-1650
If you would be a real seeker after
truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all
things.
The Cartesian Split
• Consiousness: I can’t doubt that I doubt “cogito ergo sum” (“I think therefore I am”). The inner reality.
• Perfection I can conceive of the “perfect entity”, therefore there must be one (God)
• A just God There must an “outer reality”, which is stable, measurable and has mathematical properties. God wouldn’t play tricks on us
• Dualism Therefore there is an inner and an outer reality operating under different rules
The connection
between mind and
body
Auguste Comte (1798-
1857) – Sociology &Positivism
PositivismMetaphysical (nature of reality) assumptions • Nature is orderly and regular (measurable); • We can know nature. (Some theorists suggest
that there exists a limit to such knowledge. Up to now, such a limit has not been defined.)
• All natural phenomena have natural causes (Determinism).
• Nothing is self-evident (e.g. the assertion that “2/3” or “√2” is not a rational number – a number that can be written - has to be proved.)
The square root of 2= 1.4142135623731…..Firstly, assume sqrt(2) is rational, i.e can be represented as
the irreducible fraction m/n where m and n are integers. We have sqrt(2)=m/n. Squaring, and multiplying both sides by n2, we get m2 = 2*n2.
This tells us that m2 is even. Now the only way to get an even square is to have its root also even, because even*even=even and odd*odd=odd. So m must also be even. This means that we can write m = 2*k where k is another integer.
So now we can rewrite m2 = 2*n2 as (2*k)2 = 2*n2 = 4 * k2. Halving both sides of this, we get n2 = 2 * k2.
This tells us that n2 is even. So n must also be even by the same reasoning as given above. So we can write n = 2 * j.
So if m is even and n is even, then m/n is not an irreducible fraction. And this argumentation can go on for ever. So the assumption that sqrt(2) is rational must be wrong, thus sqrt(2) is irrational. Q.E.D.
Positivism
Epistemic (nature of knowledge) assumptions • Knowledge should only be derived from
experience. (Empiricism) • The meaning of a proposition consists in
how it is verified by experience. (verifiability).
• The application of logical analysis will reach the goal of unified science. (Logicism).
• Sciences should all be unified syntactically and semantically.
Deductive Logic in Quantitative ResearchVariables: All Granny Smiths are apples
All apples have pipsLogicalReasoning
Construct All Granny Smiths have pips
EmpiricalInvestigation
Observations Test 100 randomly selectedGranny Smiths for pips
DeductionIf I am your father then
you are my daughterI am your fatherYou are my daughter
All primates are social creatures
All humans are social creatures
All humans are primates
If I have appendicitis, I am very sick
I am very sickI have appendicitis
Criminals are peopleCriminals are dishonestCriminals are dishonest
people
Actual and Estimated production of oil and gas – Peak Oil
Inductive Logic in Qualitative ResearchConcept Granny Smiths are a type of apple
LogicalReasoning
Narrative: Granny Smiths have a strongresemblance to apples except that theydon’t go red or yellow, they stay green
EmpiricalAnalyses
Observations: Granny Smiths have pips, are crisp,sweet, and green on the outside
InductionI take 20 marbles from
a bagThey are all blackAll the marbles in the
bag are black
UFOs leave giant craters where they land
There are giant crater imprints in Oregon
UFOs have landed in Oregon
Lithium causes vomiting in monkeys
Monkeys and humans are primates
Lithium will cause vomiting in humans
Socrates was a great man
Socrates had a motherAll great men have
mothers
Annual growth rate = 3.5%
Karl Popper
Karl Popper’s “falsification” principle.
• Theories cannot be proven by doing endless confirmations of their predictions - the inductive argument
• One falsification of a theory is sufficient to disprove it - Newton and Einstein
• Science can never be more that a hypothesis waiting for falsification
• If an hypothesis is not falsifiable (testable) it is not scientific
Modernism• Positivism, empiricism - a stable singular
observable reality• Strong faith in science and that behaviour is
reducible to physics and chemistry• technological solutions to problems,
industrialisation, victory over nature• destruction of religious/cultural/class dogma
/power• Humanistic moral force• research as defined, structured, quantifiable
process
Georges Seurat 1885 -pointillism
atomisation
Pablo Picasso, Le guitariste,
1910
reductionism
Pablo (or Pablito) Diego José Santiago Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Blasco y Picasso López
Victory over
nature
A.M. Cassandre French, 1901 - 1968Nord Express (North Express), 1927
Arthur Charles Radebaugh American, 1906 - 1974Bendix Products, 1937
Gerrit Rietveld Dutch, 1888 - 1964G. A. van de Groenekan, fabricator (Holland) Zig-Zag sidechair, 1939
Christopher Dresser English, 1834 - 1904Linthorpe Art Pottery, manufacturer (Middlesbrough on Tees, Yorkshire) Sea Urchin vessel, 1879–1882
Moder-nism and
Christ-ianity
Some NZ Humanist principles• Live a worthwhile life• Contribute to the well-
being of our fellow humans, since we depend on each other.
• Care for the health of the environment that nurtures us.
• Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
• Do as you would be done by
• Children should be brought up to be honest, kind and fair.
The birth and
death of stars
Naïve John
Good Old Modernism
Takes a Ciggy Break1992
HomeNew WorkEarly WorkDrawingsProductNewsLinksContact
Postmodernism (in complete defiance of the rules of science) flies away from exhausted
Modernism
Postmodernism
Metaphysical and Epistemological assumptions
• multiple and individual realities
• the idea of “other”
• an absence of universals (metanarratives)
• rejection of structural and hierarchical models – surface (lateral) not depth (vertical) relationships
• methodology of deconstruction
• research as a creative interactive qualitative process
We are the only beings conscious of our own existence. We cannot have an “innate” nature. We have to create our own nature
Jean-Paul Sartre & Simone de Beauvior - Existentialism
Post-structuralism• An extension/rejection of structuralism – the
meaning of words is dependent on their relationship to other things
• Objects exist independently of thought• All things only have meaning within social
space (relationships, discourse [thought and language]) – social construction
• Meaning is constructed and can be deconstructed by discourse (anchors themes)
• Meaning is always in flux and where it is ambiguous is a pointer to shifting conditions of power
There is no one theory or perspective that defines everything
An ethical
and moral
vacuum?
Michel Foucault – power and ethics: “From being an art of unbearable sensations, punishment has
become an economy of suspended rights”
Foucault• Rejection of idea that there is position from which
you can observe all history – having a transcendent consciousness
• Understanding the location and movement of power is the key function of discourse analysis
• Everything is capable of multiple meaning – there are no experts
• The “confession” and the “examination” as mechanisms of oppression in social services
• Maintaining a stance through ethics based on autonomy of the participant, reflexivity, and critique
Jacques Derrida
Deconstruction - text analysis
1. Find tensions and instabilities in the text
2. Question assumptions which are set as self evident, natural or original
3. Look for the binaries (man-woman), developed-underdeveloped) – is there a power hierarchy? How stable is the binary? What does it exclude?
4. Look for paradox – where an author subverts his/her own intentions
Derrida - defining deconstruction.wmv
Post-positivism• critical realism. there is a reality independent
of our thinking about it • all observation is fallible and has error and
that all theory is revisable • the goal of science is to hold steadfastly to
the goal of getting it right about reality, even though we can never achieve that goal
• objectivity is a group perspective, requiring multiple measures and methods
• knowledge evolves through a process of variation, selection and retention
Contrasts between positivism and post-positivism[1]
Positivism Post-Positivism
Emphasis on parts and decontextualization
Emphasis on whole and contextualization
Emphasis on separationEmphasis on integration
Emphasis on the generalEmphasis on the specific
Consideration only of objective and the quantifiable
Consideration also of subjective and the non-quantifiable
Contrasts between positivism and post-positivism[1]
Positivism Post-Positivism
Reliance on experts and outsider knowledge--researcher as external
Consideration also of the "average" participant and insider knowledge- researcher as internal
Focus on prediction Focus on understanding
Top-down Bottom-up
Attempt to standardize Appreciation of diversity
Focus on the productFocus on the process as well
Transformative/Emancipatory paradigm
Has a focus on social justice, the experience of oppression, the differentials of power, and the cultural, political, economic and historical perceptions of “reality”. It builds on Foucauldian ideas of ethics and asks for a constant effort to move taken-for-granted knowledge to conscious examination while accepting the post-positivist agenda
