Ontology and Epistemology: A Simple Explanation - Tourism ...

Epistemology essentially determines the relationship between the researcher and reality and is rooted in the ontological assumptions (as noted ... OntologyandEpistemology:ASimpleExplanation Thispostmaycontainaffiliatelinks.Readmyfulldisclaimerhere.Alwaysremembertobearesponsibletourist.Seethistravelresourcesposttoplanyournexttrip. (Lastupdatedon:30/08/2021) Ontologyandepistemology.Itsoundscomplicated,doesn’tit?Well,itdoesn’tneedtobe.TodayIwillexplaininsimpletermswhatismeantbythetermsepistemologyandontologyandwhyyoushouldbeincludingasectiononthisinyourresearchprojectmethodschapter. Researchphilosophy AsIexplainedinthispost-‘WhydoIneedaresearchphilosophy?’,youneedtodefineyourworldviewsandperspectivesintermsofyourresearch.Thisisknownasyourresearchphilosophyandisdonethroughyourontologyandepistemology.  Researchphilosophyisessentiallyasetofbeliefsormetaphysicsthatrepresenttheresearcher’sworld-view;thenatureof‘theworld’,theindividual’splaceinit,andtherangeofpossiblerelationshipstothatworld.Thistendstobeeitherscientificorsociety-based.Theformerbeingassociatedwithpositivismandquantitativeresearchandthelatterbeingassociatedwithinterpretivismandqualitativeresearch. Ontologyandepistemology   Whatisontology? Ontologyisanareaofphilosophythatdealswiththenatureofbeing,orwhatexists.Itisconcernedwithrealityandisoftenpresentedwithquestionssuchas‘whatisthemeaningofbeing?’or‘whatcanbesaidtoexist?’. Therearetwodominantpositionswithinontology;realismandnominalism. Realism:Theresearcherviewstheworldasexistingseparatelyfromhumansandtheirinterpretationsofit.Nominalism:Theresearcherbelievesthattheirinterpretationsoftheworldarebasedontheirinnersubjectivityandthepersonal‘lens’throughwhichtheyareviewing. Whilstthismaysoundsimple,itisnotblackandwhite–infacttherearemanyshadesofgrey!Researcherscansitanywherealongtherealist-nominalistcontinuum,fromtheextremerealisttothemoderatenominalist.     Whatisepistemology? Epistemologyisanareaofphilosophythatisconcernedwiththecreationofknowledge,focusingonhowknowledgeisobtainedandinvestigatingthemostvalidwaystoreachthetruth.Epistemologyessentiallydeterminestherelationshipbetweentheresearcherandrealityandisrootedintheontologicalassumptions(asnotedabove). Therearethreesignificantbrancheswithinepistemology:empiricism,rationalismandtranscendentalphilosophy. Empiricism Anempiricalresearchergivescognition(orunderstanding)apassiverole,indicatingthattheobjectofstudyisrecordedbythebrain,butisnotproducedbythebrain.Thisimageisthenassociatedwithsimilarobjects,thusrequiringtheuseofaconcept.Thisconceptisformedthroughalogicalprocessknownasinduction. AsIcoveredinmypost‘Theresearchonionforbeginners’,inductionworksfromthebroadthroughtothespecific.Initialdataorspecificobservationsareusedtologicallyreachgeneralisedconclusions.Inductivereasoningmovesfromspecificobservationstobroadergeneralisationsandtheories,andalthoughtheresultsmaysuggestthetruth,theydonotensureit-alimitationofinduction. Rationalism Incontrasttothis,wehavetherationalistresearcher.Rationalistsregardlogicalreasoningastheactiveproducerofconceptsexnihilo(outofnothing),andthereforeadoptadeductivelogicalreasoningprocess.Deductionoccurswhenaninitialpremisethatisassumedtobetrue,isusedtodeterminewhatelsemustbetrue.Thisistheoppositeofinductivelogic,asitbeginswithinitialtheoriesorideasthatarethennarroweddowntoreachhypotheses.Providingtheinitialpremiseiscorrect,deductivelogiccanprovideabsoluteproofofconclusionsreachedandisstronglyassociatedwithscientificresearch. Transcendental Inthemiddleofthetwo,wehavetranscendentalphilosophy.Thisiswhentheroleofreasonintheconstructionofknowledgeisquestioned.Groundedinthebeliefthatconceptsandobjectsarenotfixed,butareconstantlyevolving,transcendentalistsbelievetherationalistclaimthatobjectsarededucedfromageneralconcept.Theyrejecttheclaimthattheconceptisaproductofexnihilo.Instead,theyarguethatconceptsareformedinone’sconsciousnessthroughacombinationofpreviousexistingemptytemplatesofreason,alsoknownasaprioricategories,andtherawmaterialoftheobjectunderstudy.Ineffect,transcendentalistsbelievethatthetemplatesofreasonandthedataacquiredfromthehumansenseschangeanddevelopcontinuously. Tofurtherunderstandhowontologyandepistemologycontributetoyourresearchproject,Irecommendthatyoutakealookattheresearchonion.YouTubecanalsobehelpfulforexplainingnewtermssuchasthis.I’veincludedavideoforyoubelow. 0Comments Trackbacks/Pingbacks HowtoWriteanAwesomeResearchMethodsChapterin6EasySteps|Lifeasabutterfly-[…]chaptervisittheseposts-  ‘WhydoIneedaresearchphilosophy?‘,‘whatisontologyandepistemology?’and‘whatispositivism… Rae.Fgv.Br-Rae.Fgv.BrOntologyandEpistemology:ASimpleExplanation-TourismTeacher День13из90днейроста-BraGinGbear-[…]болееподробнуюинформациюобэтомвмоемпосте «Онтологияиэпистемология:простоеобъяснение»,асейчасядамкраткоеописаниекаждого… NetnographymadeSIMPLE|What,howandwhy-TourismTeacher-[…]toKozinet(2015),netnographyfaithfullyexportsanthropology’ssetofontological,epistemologicalandaxiologicalcommitmentstothestudyofsocial… SubmitaCommentCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*CommentName* Email* Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. SubmitComment Δ ABOUT Hi,I'mDrHayleyStainton ThroughTourismTeacherIsharemyknowledgeontheprinciplesandpracticeoftravelandtourismmanagementfrombothanacademicandpracticalperspective. FollowMe FollowFollowFollowFollow Searchfor: SubscribetotheTourismTeachernewsletter Nospam.High-qualityeducational,informativeandoccasionallyhumorouscontent.Signuptoday.  Subscribe Subscribe Thankyou! Youhavesuccessfullyjoinedthesubscriberlist. LATESTPOSTS Agritourism:What,whereandwhy Agritourismisatypeoftourismthatisincreasingaroundtheworld.Withtheincreasingpopularityofnichetourism,coupledwithagrowthinthedesiretomakeourtravelsmoresustainable,itisnosurprisethattheagritourismindustryhasgrownsignificantlyin... Whatisexperientialtravel? Experientialtravelistheoneofthelatesttrendsinthetravelandtourismindustry.Increasinginpopularity,thistypeoftourismisoftenviewedas'good',frequentlyfacilitatingnichetourismorsustainabletourismendeavours.Butwhatactuallyisexperiential... 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