Theory and

Research
theory?
an abstract system of
concepts and their
relationships that help us to
understand a phenomenon
 Approaches

positivistic interpretive critical

assuming the existence viewing truth as stressing the researcher’s
of objective reality and subjective and stressing responsibility to change
value-neutral research the participation of the the inequities in the status
researcher in the research quo
process
ontology
a branch of knowledge focused on the nature of reality

epistemology
a branch of knowledge focused on how we know things

axiology
a branch of knowledge focused on what is worth knowing
The Research
Process
scientific deductive inductive
method
doing research involving moving from the general moving from the
controlled observations (the theory) to the specific specific (the
and analysis to test the (the observations) observations) to the
principles of a theory general (the theory)
The Research
Process
quantitative qualitative
positivist, generalize interpretive, specific