CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.2 PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS
The two main philosophical features to characterise existing research paradigms are ontology and epistemology. They relate to the nature of knowledge and the development of that knowledge, respectively (Wahyuni, 2012).
3.2.1 Ontology
According to Mack (2010), ontology is the study of contentions and beliefs about the nature of social reality. It involves claims about what exists, how it looks, the characteristics that form it and how these units relate to each other. In other words, if someone studies ontology they study what we mean when we say something exists (Mack, 2010). The assumption is that individuals construct multiple realities. Each of us experiences a different reality. Reality is based on unique understanding, as each of us understands and makes sense of our own world as we see and experience it (Berger and Luckman, 1966;
Gergen, 1999, 2001a, 2001b in Roots, 2007). The researcher acknowledges that individual perceptions of meaning and effect of experience can differ. Therefore, the uniqueness of participants was acknowledged while at the same time permitting areas of sameness.
Ontologically, the participation of nurse leaders in health policy development is an inadequate phenomenon.
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3.2.2 Epistemology
If ontologists study the meaning of existence of something, then an epistemologist studies what we mean when we say we know something (Mack, 2010). Epistemology is a set of beliefs on the way to generate, understand and use information that is believed to be acceptable and valid. For example, epistemologically, the researcher believes that nurse leaders each have knowledge that they have acquired from their own experiences and practice. The researcher and subject are interdependent hence knowledge is subjective and biased (Wahyuni, 2012). According McNiff and Whitehead (2011), individuals have to discuss their meanings with other knowing individuals. In search for knowledge the researcher worked with the selected nurse leaders in addressing the phenomenon of common interest, which is participation in health policy development. Cognitive interaction and shared knowledge construction were considered as the fundamental features in the process of the study. The study reasoning was inductive and deductive, using mixed methods to answer the research question. The belief is that knowledge is generated inductively from data, flowing logically from specific to general explanations. Wahyuni (2012) added two other basic viewpoints that affect the way we investigate reality. These were axiology and methodology. Axiology is concerned with ethics, encompassing the roles of values in the research and the researcher’s stance in relation to the subject studied. This is dealt with under ethical considerations. A methodology refers to a model for undertaking a research process in the context of a particular paradigm as described in the introductory paragraph.
3.2.3 Theoretical perspective
The theoretical perspective adopted in the study was constructivism. The researcher’s belief is aligned with the constructivist viewpoint that the social world is constantly changing and is continually constructed by participants. According to Krauss (2005) constructivism refers to the form of research encompassed within the interpretative paradigm. Creswell (2014) agrees that constructivism is a perspective or an approach that is often combined with interpretivism. Reality is created by and between people who experience it as opposed to positivism, which contends that an individual produces his or her own reality. Therefore, reality is a result of the context in which action occurs. Since the cultural, social and political norms that operate within that context and time shape reality, perceptions of reality are relative.
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Constructivist researchers address the processes of interaction among individuals. They focus on the context in which people live and work, in order to understand the history and cultural background of the participants (Creswell 2014). The environment and context influence how one views reality (Roots 2007). This supports the conceptual framework (Policy Triangle) on which this study is based. It is believed that the context and process of health policy development influence the participation of nurse leaders.
Assumptions identified in constructivism
i. It is believed that as human beings engage with the world they are interpreting, they construct meanings.
ii. The historical and social standpoints are the bases on which humans connect with their world and make sense of it. Through visiting the settings and gathering information personally, the researcher is able to understand the context. The researcher in the current study also applied this assumption. The researcher’s personal experience also shaped the interpretation of the findings.
iii. The basic generation of meaning is always social, arising in and out of contact with a human community (Creswell, 2014).
The researcher’s position is that the knower and known are co-created. She recognised that the individual perception of meaning and effect of experience could differ (Krauss 2005). Therefore the belief is that the nurse leaders need to participate in health policy development to some extent so as to better understand and express its surfacing properties and features (Healy and Perry, 2000 in Krauss, 2005). The researcher engaged with the participants to construct knowledge; however, different value perspectives were accommodated. The goal was to rely as much as possible on the participants’ views of the situation being studied.
3.2.4 Research paradigm: pragmatism
A research paradigm is a set of fundamental assumptions and beliefs as to how the world is perceived. It then serves as a reasoning framework that guides the behaviour of the researcher (Jonker and Pennink, 2010). Some writers Creswell (2009) and Neuman (2011) stress that the importance of questioning the research paradigm to be applied in conducting research because of its influence on how the researcher undertakes a social study in relation to the framework and understanding social phenomena. A pragmatic paradigm underpins the study. The use of quantitative and qualitative methods is the
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defining characteristic of pragmatism. This allows the research to switch between different perspectives in order to answer the research question. Pragmatism does not encourage a single system of thinking or truth. It is therefore specifically applicable in a mixed-methods approach because the focus is solution-generative. According to Creswell (2014), for the mixed methods researcher, pragmatism allows the use of multiple methods, different worldviews and different beliefs, as well as various forms of data collection and analysis.
The pragmatists believe in understanding reality through action. Thus the relationship between the process of scientific theoretical perspectives and practical application is dialectical and cooperative (Kyrö, 2004). The study aimed at conceptualising the process of participation of nurse leaders in health policy development in order to advance the theoretical discussion in this field. Conceptualisation will lead to better practical application.
For many pragmatists, knowledge claims arise out of activities, circumstances, and consequences rather than preconceived conditions. Pragmatism is concerned with applications, in other words what works or what the solution for a problem is. Pragmatism merges reality with experience, which is the satisfaction of subjective interests of the informed subjects. Pragmatism is consistent with action research that is more focussed on the application of existing scientific knowledge versus creation of new scientific knowledge.
Hence it could be argued that pragmatism is a more grounded approach to research (McNiff, 2013).
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN