...methodology cannot be separated from each other, but should be seen instead as a whole. Depending on the theoretical framework you also commit yourself into using specific tools in the empirical research you aim to do. In other words, your world view directs what methodology you can and should use in your empirical work (Desphande,1983). The different world views are in this case broadly classified as research philosophy and when discussing different research stances one can take, we are talking about research paradigms. The three assigned articles by Desphande(1983), Brand(2009) and Tadajewski(2004) discuss the various research paradigms and how they can and should be contrasted to one another in order to form a more functional whole. In the first article by Desphande, a definition for paradigms by Thomas Kuhn is offered. Paradigms are described as a guide for professionals, which points out the important issues and problems within that discipline. Furthermore paradigms offer tools for solving these issues and defines what methods are suitable for studying those particular research problems. The article goes on to discuss the problem behind having only one theoretical philosophy to rely on in the research of marketing. This has according to the...
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...research field and prompt the further research in the relevant fields. There need to construct a paradigm that can completely describes research using SERM approaches. A SERM framework based on this paradigm is presented to allow developmental research to be performed using a stringent methodology. Software Engineering as Research Research can be described as a scientific approach rather than one of the several different ways of promoting building and understanding of new knowledge. Moreover, scientific research is defined as a process of systemic inquiry conducted with the protection of a theoretical infrastructure. Research and evaluation, which is similar to research, can be distinguished by using theory as the fundamental. As Mertens argues that evaluation is associated with the acquiring of information for decision making in a given environment, however, research, which means a wider field, is more typically connected with contributing new knowledge that can be used in the relative fields Can software engineering be research? According to the definitions from Sir Karl Popper (1980) and Blake (1978), whether or not something is research depends on the nature of the questions asked rather than on the method used to test a theory. Software engineering, which is the main part of system development, can be considered as a scientific research under the criteria. Paradigms are constituted of assumptions both about the knowledge and the approach to master it and about...
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...This chapter discusses the philosophical assumptions and also the design strategies underpinning this research study. Common philosophical assumptions were reviewed and presented; the interpretive paradigm was identified for the framework of the study. In addition, the chapter discusses the research methodologies, and design used in the study including strategies, instruments, and data collection and analysis methods, while explaining the stages and processes involved in the study. The research design for this study is a descriptive and interpretive case study that is analysed through qualitative methods. Questionnaires were used to evaluate participants’ WebCT skills (before the course starts) and to determine their levels of satisfaction in the course (at the end of the case study). A descriptive statistical method was used to analyze the student satisfaction survey. Participant observation, face-to-face interviews, focus-group interviews, questionnaires, and member checking were used as data collection methods. Furthermore, the justification for each of the data collection methods used in the study was discussed. Finally, in order to ensure trustworthiness of the research, appropriate criteria for qualitative research were discussed, and several methods that include member checks, peer reviews, crystallisation and triangulation were suggested and later employed. The chapter closed with a diagrammatic representation of the major facets of the envisaged framework for the research...
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...Directions – Mark Tadajewski 1 1.2 “Paradigms Lost”: On Theory and Method in Research in Marketing – Rohit Deshpande 4 1.3 Empirical Business Ethics Research and Paradigm Analysis – V. Brand 6 2 Summary on key learning notes 9 Bibliography 12 The Philosophy of Science The discussion of marketing as a science and the different paradigms related to it were unfamiliar to me before I read these articles included in the assignment. I had earlier gotten familiar with the discussion of economic sociology and the discussion and the debate between economics as a science (especially the neo-classic economic approach) and the subject it researches, i.e. the economic markets where these economic practices take place. It is thus also logical to become familiar with the evolution of marketing practices, as this to many degrees resembles and also equates to the evolution of economic sciences and other sciences alike. The articles are assessed in the order that I read them, since it is hopefully also possible for the reader to follow a logical construct in the development and adoption of the insight that the articles provide on marketing research. Even though this does not pose a logical progression of the articles time-wise, I still feel that it is natural to address these articles in this mentioned fashion. The first one of the articles discussed is “The Philosophy of Marketing Theory” by M. Tadajewski, the second one is “Paradigms Lost” by R. Deshpande, and the third and...
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...Lecture 01 Notes from Reading: Chapter 02: 2.1.1 Marketing ‘Science’ and Analysis, Planning and Implementation and Control End of World War 2- ‘Academic research was impressionistic’ Ford and Carneige Foundations report changed this by criticising the lack of engagement by business academics with mathematically orientated, behavioural science research. *’Ideally, a published research paper had to contain some element of mathematical symbolism or involve ‘laboratory research, experimental design, computer simulation, operations research, mathematical models and high powered statistics.’ Kotler’s text had a structured way of approaching marketing planning and implementation using research findings and methodologies form the social, economic and quantative sciences. This was criticised saying that ‘Marketing Science’, as it was perceived to be ignoring the impact of marketing on society, focusing instead on issues related to managerial and firm competitiveness exclusively. That marketing intellectuals should devote attention to issues central in contemporary public policy debates or to study the impact of marketing on society and vice versa (i.e. take a ‘macro marketing’ perspective). Ways scholars tried to link marketing theory and research with wider societal concerns was to broaden the domain of marketing, to include not just business exchanges (i.e selling soap) but to stress that many organisations engaged in marketing. A short step to this was claiming that marketing...
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...Samantha Roberts Student Number: Word count: 1,289 There has been an ongoing paradigm debate between quantitative and qualitative research amongst social scientists for a number of years. Qualitative Research is a particularly new concept developed to obtain and analyse data however many researchers are yet to take a liking to this concept (Bryman, 1984). Qualitative research refers to studies that are conducted in natural settings and include participant observation, focus groups and in-depth interviews. (Whitley & Crawford, 2005). These techniques provide a strong insight into how participants view events and experiences to obtain a deeper meaning into the area being studied (Willig, 2001). Quantitative research focuses on the Scientific Method which is based on a series of steps that are followed systematically to acquire data such as experiments that are then analysed and presented into numerical form. This essay will examine both research paradigms while also determining the epistemological underpinnings that determines the methods used to collect and analyse data. Qualitative researchers are mainly concerned with the social world and the influence of events and experiences that has on an individual’s perspective of the world. These researchers are not concerned with answering a specific question, more so to develop a rich understanding of a certain topic mainly through the methods of in-depth interviews, participant observation and focus groups. In-depth interviews...
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...edu/ssss/QR/QR14-1/diaz-andrade.pdf Interpretive Research Aiming at Theory Building: Adopting and Adapting the Case Study Design Antonio Díaz Andrade The University of Auckland Business School, Auckland, New Zealand Although the advantages of case study design are widely recognised, its original positivist underlying assumptions may mislead interpretive researchers aiming at theory building. The paper discusses the limitations of the case study design for theory building and explains how grounded theory systemic process adds to the case study design. The author reflects upon his experience in conducting research on the articulation of both traditional social networks and new virtual networks in six rural communities in Peru, using both case study design and grounded theory in a combined fashion in order to discover an emergent theory. Key Words: Case Study, Interpretive Approach, Theory Building, and Grounded Theory Introduction Researchers adopting a case study design face a number of challenges in making their argument. Yin (2003) himself warns researchers who adopt a case study design to be conscious that their findings will be challenged and prefaces his book enumerating the alleged weaknesses in the case study; a methodology that downgrades the academic disciplines and lacks sufficient precision, objectivity, and rigour. We should note that those warnings come from an author who operates from a positivist stance throughout his book. If this warning applies to positivist researchers, then...
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...Towards a typology for undertaking doctoral research in the built environment Ade Alao Abstract This paper considers issues associated with identifying a typology for doctoral research in the built environment. It argues that a definition of the built environment knowledge base in terms of its constituent subject disciplines is unhelpful for doctoral research as the generation of new knowledge in an interdiscipline requires integration across the various subject disciplines. A typology for research design is identified as being capable of guiding the doctoral researcher but will require further research to tested and verify it’s theoretical and empirical basis. Keywords: Typology, Doctoral Research, Built Environment, Interdisciplinarity 1. Introduction “The built environment disciplines is a term that has come to be used by many UK universities to refer to a range of practice-oriented subjects concerned with the design, development and management of buildings, spaces and places….. …..they are a very heterogeneous collection of fields of study and practice, including architecture, town planning, land and property management, building surveying, construction technology, landscape design, housing policy and management, transport planning and urban regeneration. In some institutions disciplines such as geography and environmental management are also included. As such, they comprise something of a microcosm of the university as a whole, comprising business-oriented...
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...Friday, May 2nd. I want this one electronically. Please email me your write-up as a Word 2003 (.doc) file. I do not accept late papers or give incompletes. You will have already written the initial draft by completing the two take-home exercises, so you have no excuses. We'll talk more about this critique as the semester goes on. As I mentioned above, each of the exercises will also add to the completion of this paper. In past years some students have used the paper to gain deep expertise in a topic area and then publish a meta-analytic summary of the research in that area, using the methodological critique as a guide. COURSE CALENDAR SESSION DUE CONTENT 1 - 1/10 Research process; Positivistic & interpretive designs 2 - 1/17 Choosing problems, questions & hypotheses 3 - 1/24 Writing and Publishing 4 - 1/31 Quasi-experimental designs 5 - 2/7 Experimental designs 6...
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...everything that can be counted counts” -Albert Einstein INTRODUCTION • Qualitative research methods have become increasingly important as ways of developing nursing knowledge for evidence-based nursing practice. Qualitative research answers a wide variety of questions related to nursing's concern with human responses to actual or potential health problems. (Ploeg J, 1999) • Qualitative research is a type of scientific research which has its roots in philosophy and human sciences. • Qualitative research plays an important part in providing evidence for practice in nursing, and is gaining greater acceptance within medicine. (Bailey C, 2002) • Definition: "A quantitative approach is one in which the investigator primarily uses post-positivist claims for developing knowledge (i.e. cause and effect thinking, reduction to specific variables and hypotheses and questions, use of measurement and observation, and the test of theories)." (Creswell, 2003) • Qualitative research is used to gain insight into people's attitudes, behaviours, value systems, concerns, motivations, aspirations, culture or lifestyles. • Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. • Qualitative research is often associated with naturalistic inquiry. • Naturalistic methods of inquiry attempt to deal with the issue of human complexity by exploring directly. • Naturalistic inquiry always takes place in the natural settings...
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...University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Business - Accounting & Finance Working Papers 2006 Faculty of Business The Critique of Accounting Theory M. Gaffikin University of Wollongong, gaffikin@uow.edu.au Publication Details This working paper was originally published as Gaffikin, M, The Critique of Accounting Theory, Accounting & Finance Working Paper 06/25, School of Accounting & Finance, University of Wollongong, 2006. Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: research-pubs@uow.edu.au 06/25 University of Wollongong School of Accounting & Finance The Critique of Accounting Theory Working Papers Series Michael Gaffikin School of Accounting & Finance University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia Tel +61 (2) 4221 3718 Fax +61 (2) 4221 4297 eMail george@uow.edu.au www.uow.edu.au/commerce/accy/ The Critique of Accounting Theory Michael Gaffikin* School of Accounting and Finance, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522 In previous papers (Gaffikin 2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2006) the discussion has examined accounting as a science, with attempts to employ a scientific methodology; as a purely technical expression of economic theory, heavily dominated by research in finance; and as part of “law”, albeit law (regulation) heavily influenced by dominant economic and political ideology. That discussion revealed that all these perspectives...
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...published DSS research is presented. This investigation is based on the detailed analysis of 1,020 DSS articles published in 14 major journals from 1990 to 2003. The analysis found that DSS publication has been falling steadily since its peak in 1994 and the current publication rate is at early 1990s levels. Other findings include that personal DSS and group support systems dominate research activity and data warehousing is the least published type of DSS. The journal DSS is the major publishing outlet; US ‘Other’ journals dominate DSS publishing and there is very low exposure of DSS in European journals. Around two-thirds of DSS research is empirical, a much higher proportion than general IS research. DSS empirical research is overwhelming positivist, and is more dominated by positivism than IS research in general. Design science is a major...
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...Introduction This essay will cover the meta-theoretical assumptions that make up the modernist and symbolic interpretive approaches and how the respective theories under these perspectives describe about the relationship between organisations and technology in the environment. Meta-theoretical assumptions Ontology refers to our assumptions and concepts about reality. According to Hatch and Cunliffe (2006), concepts produce mental categories for arranging, categorizing and keeping experience in memory. This mental documentation assists in the studies of an object’s nature of existence, whether or not it is real or illusory. It suggests that although we do not see something perhaps it does not mean that it doesn’t exist. The study of ontology takes 2 conflicting views, subjectivism and objectivism. The ontology of modernism is objectivism. The modernists believe that reality exists independent of our knowledge of it. From the objectivist’s point of view, reality is experienced through our five senses and our knowledge of what’s around us is derived from what we encountered and that the knowledge may be substantiated overtime by scientific methods to enhance its reliability (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2006). However, this is strongly objected by the point of view of the subjectivists. The subjectivists believe that the reality exists only when it is experienced and registered by someone. In addition, the symbolic-interpretivist broadens the perspective of reality to involve collection...
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...points from each seminar and try to define some concepts pertained therefof. Lecture 1 This lecture is aimed at helping a student to understand the significance of social research and why it matters. A learner will understand that a research method is a technical subject that encompasses its own language and this language ought to be utilized in precise way. In this course, the precise meaning of technical terms ought to be learned and then applied carefully, more so in undertaking examinations. A student of social science, a learner will be familiar with the idea of sociology as multi-paradigm discipline. Debates and controversies aside, the main divide in social research has been about the philosophical basis of sociological research and the right choice of social research methods. For instance, a learner will undertake to understand the divide between positivists and anti-positivists. The lecture will prove to be critical to a student to understanding the wider role of social research to the society. It will come out clear how most of various day-to-day activities depend on social research. The lecture will for instance...
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...Business research Business research can be described as a systematic and organized effort to investigate a specific problem encountered in the work setting that needs a solution. It comprises a series of steps designed and executed, with a goal of finding answers to the issues that are of concern to the manager in the work environment. This means that the first step in research is to know where the problem areas exist in the organization, and to identify as clearly and specifically as possible the problems that need to be studied and resolved. Once the problem that needs attention is clearly defined, then steps can be taken to gather information, analyze the data, and determine the factors that are associated with the problem and solve it by taking the necessary corrective measures. This entire process by which we attempt to solve problems is called research. Thus research involves a series of well-thought-out and carefully executed activities that will enable the manager to know how organizational problems can be solved, or at least considerably minimized. Research thus encompass the process of inquiry, investigation, examination, and experimentation. These processes have to be carried out systematically, diligently, critically, objectively, and logically. The expected end results would be the discovery that will help the manager to deal with the problem situation. Definition of research 1. A voyage of discovery or a journey/movement from the known to unknown; An attitude;...
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