Day 3 overview Overview of research paradigms & methods Eagle and Condor Deduction and Induction.

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