Epistemology
“episteme” - knowledge / ”logos” - study
The five problems, which research needs to resolve before doing more research:
1.- The ontological assumptions of being and their qualities and epistemological knowledge of
social sciences. This section deals with the conception of nature of things and the possibility of
knowing them, for example the soul, because it doesn’t have the qualities to be studied.
2.- The object of study of social sciences, the individual or society as whole, big social groups
or small groups.
To understand this problem you can analyze a topic as an individual act and the impact on
society, therefore you must determine how to analyze an event from the individual or from its
impact on society.
3.- The nature of science knowledge, according to a quantitative approach, measures the social
variable or qualitative with holistic approach, in other words, studying the subject in its entirety.
The theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their rela
tion to the whole; "holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
4.- The relationship between the object under investigation and the values of the investigator.
At this point, you start questioning the objectivity of the investigation or whether the results are
influenced by the beliefs, values, and prejudice of the researcher.
5.- The final function must meet scientific research standards according to the chosen model for
the construction of the social science. On one hand, some scholars believe that social sciences
should explain the phenomena they study and on the other hand, are those who think they
should interpret the phenomena.
How knowledge is acquired?
Materialism is the current claim that everything is matter and that the only reality that exists is material the
reality. Currently, is represented by the dialectical materialism of Marx and Engels, who believed that
nature is the matter that has existence independently of being thought. Physicalism, like positivism,
considers that a sentence becomes meaningful only if it can be verified.
Law of gravity
Rationalism is the current that states that reality can be known without any prior experience.
Descartes, with his famous phrase “I think therefore I am” describes the basic concept of this
theory.
Empiricism asserts that experience is necessary to know something.
This theory bases knowledge in the learned information only through experimentation, for example,
anthropology is a science to develop any research, the researcher must go, know, and live in the
community of study.
Realism exposes that ideas exist whether or not they are thought.
Knowledge is possible without the necessity of thought.
This theory is opposed to idealism.
Idealism assumes that objects cannot exist without a mind that is aware of them.
To know things consciousness, ideas, the subject and thought, must be taken into account.
Positivism asserts that all knowledge must be based on sensory experience.
To acquire knowledge one should base on observation and experimentation, in other words, it
relies on the scientific method.
Logical positivism. Its thought is born of empiricism and is known as total empiricism based on logic to
avoid ambiguity.
All meaningful statements are either analytic or conclusively verifiable or at least confirmable by
observation and experiment
Phenomenology proposes that consciousness involves a relationship with the object and keeps
the essence of the phenomenon. It proposes a method called phenomenological reduction in
which the individual is placed in the field of pure consciousness to find the foundations of
science
Analytic philosophy says that everything that can be thought can be expressed by language and
the most important function of language is to describe facts.
Hermeneutics has as the object of investigation the historical as the knowledge that can be
accomplished is historically mediated.
Social Research Methodologies
Research is defined as a set of systematic, empirical processes that apply to study of a
phenomenon.” The goals of social science research can be divided into two groups:
Those who seek to know and/or produce new knowledge related to social phenomena.
Those who want to answer questions that arise from a concrete reality.
The investigator’s subjectivity is also considered a determining element that affects the results.
Social Research Methodologies
The quantitative method is carried out to test a hypothesis looking through the data collection
and statistical analysis. The process for conducting this research is sequential and rigorous,
consisting of ten stages that begin with an idea and end with the preparation of the progress
report based from the results.
In this research, we seek to explain and predict the phenomena investigated in order to prove a
theory, while identifying universal laws and new knowledge is generated. In a quantitative
approach, research is intended to be as objective and structured as possible avoiding the
subjectivity of the researcher. This approach is based on positivist philosophies.
•Inductive
•Subjective
•Impressionistic
•Holistic, interdependent system
•Purposeful, key informants
•Not focused on generalization
•Aims at understanding, new perspectives
•Case studies, content and pattern analysis
•Focus on words
•Probing
The qualitative method does not use numerical measurement to answer the research questions. This
approach is a circular flexible process in which the sequences of the processes change according to the
same investigation and frequently back to previous stages, which can be modified according to the
requirements of the study.
This research seeks to describe, understand and interpret phenomena. It is an inductive process. Usually,
this approach is used more in social sciences, since it is based in phenomenology and naturalism.
Deductive
Objective
Conclusive
Independent and dependent variables
Random, probabilistic sample
Focused on generalization
Aims at truth, scientific acceptance
Statistical analysis
Focus on numbers
Counting
The mixed method involves linking qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study to
answer a specific problem.
Exploratory design
Seeks to examine an issue or a problem that has not been studied profoundly.
The researcher tries to find indicators that may serve to define the studied phenomenon.
Information is obtained to further investigate the phenomenon and to investigate it in a
particular context.
Out of this type of investigation, you cannot obtain definitive conclusions or
generalizations.
The descriptive designs highlight the most important characteristics of the object of study that
is a person, group, community, or phenomenon under analysis.
These studies also provide information that will serve as a basis for further research.
You cannot draw general conclusions, only descriptions of a phenomenon.
Correlational designs
Seek the relationship or degree of association between two or more variables or concepts.
Its value is explanatory, because it explains the relationship between two variables.
Explanatory designs
Respond to the causes of phenomena or events and focuses on demonstrating why an event
occurs and the conditions under which it shows.
Grounded designs
Seek to generate a theorem that explains, at a conceptual level, an action in a specific area.
The ethnographic design studies groups, organizations, communities or cultural elements such as
education, politics, and history.
This kind of research involves description and interpretation, and it is carried out in a given context.
Narrative design
The researchers collect information about people’s lives and then describe and analyze it.
The sources of data can be biographies, interviews, documents, etc.
Action research designs
Seek to solve everyday problems immediately and improve the action.
Its objective is to help make decisions for the implementation of programs, processes, and reforms.
