Epistemology and Ontology
How we believe the world exists (our ontology) will be interwoven with how we see knowledge being created and finding suitable means of understanding it (our epistemology) - Burton and Bartlett (2009, p. 17)
In this short podcast episode, Lara Varpio, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Research, Graduate Programs in Health Professions Education at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, gets listeners up to speed with qualitative research approaches. The first resource she points us to is this article which explains research paradigms clearly and effectively for early career researchers.
Ayiro (2012; p. 63) defines epistemology as the philosophy of knowledge, or how we come to know. It poses the following questions:
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What is the relationship between the knower and what is known?
How we do we know what we know?
What counts as knowledge?
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Researchers can approach cases from various epistemological locations. Various definitions of case studies highlight different roles for researchers and share an emphasis on making sense of localized experienced by focusing on a case or a particular. For example, understanding activity (Stake, 1995), creating “empirical descriptions” (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007), and critiquing and interpreting evidence (Stenhouse, 1978) (Compton-Lilly, 2012).
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The dominant paradigms in case study methodology:
Positivist – the object of study is independent of researchers (YIN)
Constructivist – knowledge is established through the meanings attached to the phenomena studied, and inquiry changes both researcher and subject. All research takes place within a paradigm – said or unsaid. (STAKE; MERRIAM)
Ridder (2020, p. 131) argues case studies are conducive to a constructivist perspective because they provide a more holistic, contextualised story for the audience to engage with and connect to.
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Yin (2009) describes analytic processes in case study research design, stemming from epistemological assumptions including the role of the researcher in revealing scientific and true theories. Crotty (1998) notes three fundamental positivistic notions in research, including objectivity, validity, and generalizability. Yazan (2015) identifies Yin’s epistemological orientation through his commitment to these concepts.
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Ontology is concerned with the philosophy of existence – what assumptions and beliefs do we as researchers hold about the nature of being? These beliefs can be organised along a spectrum from realism (one reality exists) to relativism (many realities exist), and it is along this spectrum of ontology that three key theorists, Yin, Stake, and Merriam, place themselves and their ontological assumptions.
As noted in Harrison, Birks, Franklin and Mills (2017), Yin (2014) describes his approach to case study as using a “realist perspective” (2014, p. 17). His focus on maintaining objectivity through rigorous empirical methods is embedded in his adherence to several tactics to employ validity and reliability in the case study approach. Towards the other end of the ontology spectrum sits Stake (1995). Stake acknowledges that knowledge generated from the case study process is multiple and subjective, placing emphasis on the researcher capturing their interpreted reality of the case (1995). Brown (2008) places Merriam in the centre of the continuum as she draws on elements of both pragmaticism and constructivism – acknowledging that Merriam’s approach is “informed by the rigor of Yin and enriched by the creative interpretation described by Stake (p. 9)”.
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“An ontology is the answer one would give to the question: What kind of things are there in the world?” (Benton & Craib, 2004, p. 4). Burton and Bartlett (2009) suggest that researchers may see the world as fixed and clear, with set social structures that we each belong to, or we may see the world, and our position in it, as fluid and changing (p. 17).
Positivist
reality is objective and 'found'
trust is one
discourse is structured and transparent, reflecting reality
what is true? what can we know?
communication as transmission
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cool scientific - "objective"
Interpretivist
reality is subjective and constructed
truth is many
discourse is dialogic and creates reality
what is heuristic? what can we understand?
communication as transaction
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natural, symbolic of growth
Critical theory
reality is subjective and constructed on the basis of issues of power
truth is many
discourse is embedded in and controlled by rhetorical and political purpose
what is just?
communication as decision making
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dynamic, action-oriented
Deconstructivist
reality is ultimately unknowable
'truths' are socially constructured
discourse is by nature inseparable from its subject
is there a truth?
critique the world
communication as challenging the nature of communication
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absence or denial of colour