The philosophical and theoretical context of qualitative research

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we were introduced to the branch of philosophy known as 'epistemology', which is devoted to studying different ways of knowing, and how knowledge is produced, including the methods by which new information is generated. Qualitative and quantitative research represent just two of the many means through which knowledge is derived; others include personal experience, reflection and authority - that is being told something by an assumed expert. Philosophers study these different ways of looking at the world, and of making sense of what we see. In the next few pages, we will briefly cover a number of these perspectives, which can also be referred to as theories.