LangLit

IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

THE PHILOSOPHY OF RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW
DR. SIVADASAN MADHAVAN,
Associate Professor,
Department of English,
Wolaita Sodo University,
Ethiopia
ABSTRACT
Studies about the technicalities of conducting research are still going on at
different levels all over the world. The focus of this paper is the philosophical
foundations of research that many a researcher ignores while engaged in
research work. Since knowledge is awareness acquired by means of education
or experience, it enables one to answer certain questions. Therefore, one must
be able to answer any question related to anything one may come across. The
accidental falling of an apple brought a question (Why did it fall down?) into
Newton’s brain and it paved the way for the theory of gravitation. Most of the
great inventions and discoveries were accidental or by chance. However, a
research begins with a question, works on a theoretical basis, and adds
something to the existing body of knowledge. Some questions like “Who is
God?”, “Is there God?”, etc. may or may not get correct answers. Such
ontological questions are related to reality which may be either ‘single’ or
‘multiple’ as Ontology gets bifurcated into. On practical grounds, in a
research, Ontology leads to Epistemology, Methodology, and Axiology. To be
scientific in the academic sense, a research has to be in line with these
philosophical concepts and the models called 'research paradigms', the
parametric dimensions of research philosophy, set and accepted as norms by
the scholars. The moot point is whether a scholar can break the shell of the
norms of 'research foundation'!

The inventions and discoveries have never had a well-planned research behind them in the
early stage of acquiring knowledge. The inventors and discoverers happened to come across
them accidentally while they were engaged in some activities. Archimedes’ principle of
buoyancy he declared by shouting “Eureka!” and running naked in the streets of Syracuse in
ancient Greece, Issac Newton’s theory of gravity as a consequence of the apple felling down
on to his head and making him think about why it fell down, etc. are just a few examples.
Since then the education system made the research systematized during the course of time.

The learners have started making deliberate attempts to acquire knowledge ever since the
formal education became customary. The educational institutions began to formulate rules
and regulations for it. Curriculum plans and syllabus designs came as part of it. However,
about the technicalities of conducting research, studies are still going on at different levels all
over the world. It is knowledge that matters to those who study something or conduct
research. The focus of this paper is the philosophical foundations of research that many a
researcher is unaware of while engaged in research work. Research philosophy is the hidden
abstract intellectual assumptions behind the research processes. It is worth looking into the
unspoken part or the invisible foundation of the research.

Vol. 5 Issue 4 102 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

The common people have a vague idea about the concept of research. More often than not,
everyone hears about research studies or research findings on a certain topic. The fast
developing educational sectors and the increased demand for scholars in various fields
compel the higher education authorities to open new research centres everywhere. The higher
literacy rate (though quality is doubtful in many developing countries), the development of
science and technology, and the consequent changes in the social life have tended to add up
the demand for the research facilities in the universities. The formal research conventions are
followed everywhere. The hidden philosophical aspects are complementary to the
rudimentary features of a research as per the notions of the conventional academic
researchers.

There are different definitions of research by different scholars as it is true in many other
educational concepts. The well-known definitions hardly point to the philosophical bases of
the research. No single definition of research constitutes all the characteristics of an academic
research that all the scholars accept unanimously. Sherri L. Jackson (2012) quotes Redman
and Mory’s definition of research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.” D.
Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research as “the
manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct
or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice
of an art.” To cut a long story short, the elements of some relevant definitions can be
condensed into the following words: ‘A research is an enquiry to explore an idea, probe an
issue, solve a problem, or make an argument that compels us to turn to outside help.’ It is
clear that a research always depends on the outside sources of relevant information. If a
researcher can solve a research problem by himself without depending on outside
help/source, it is not a research in the formal academic sense.

A wide range of experts agree on the seven steps a researcher takes in conducting research.
The first task in the research activities is to identify the topic, the problem and the purpose of
the research. Framing the research questions in accordance with the objectives comes next.
Thirdly, reviewing the prior literature related to the topic will give the required background
and insight to pave the way for specifying the knowledge gap. Fourthly, the research
hypotheses are constructed using the research variables in line with the conceptual and
theoretical frameworks. Fifthly, the researcher has to choose the research design and methods
to collect data. Next, the hypothesis will be tested based on the data collected. Finally, the
researcher draws his own conclusions after proper deliberations on the test results and
analysis.

However, researchers throughout the world feel that research is a hard nut to crack, but it is
not mainly due to the philosophical under-current that they find the research very difficult.
There are many reasons for considering research work a stumbling block. Lack of experience
and absence of expertise in the field of education are the main reasons. In the centres of
higher education, the often quoted complaint is that they do not have adequate resource
persons to guide the research in different fields of study. The traditional teacher-centred
teaching methods have given rise to a generation that completely depends on spoon-feeding.
The active participation of students in looking for appropriate learning material and their
genuine interest in learning process are very rare in the developing countries in general. The
poor technical help and inadequate expertise worsen the situation in the part of the world

Vol. 5 Issue 4 103 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

where the writer of this paper works as a research assistant. The students lack the spirit of
enquiry, and the education system is not research-oriented. Thus, the lack of proper directions
is the reason for groping in the dark.

The general awareness about knowledge is that students acquire whatever they can from the
existing body of knowledge throughout their career, until they start the research work at the
terminal level. They can gain knowledge with the help of teacher(s) or by themselves from
books or other sources. As long as their work does not lead to novel findings, it is not called
research, academically, because their investigation does not generate anything new, nor does
it extend, correct or verify the existing knowledge. The term-paper a student writes is not a
research in that it does not add anything new to the pool of existing knowledge. It is just
collecting and collating information that they do in a term paper.

A layman, without knowing what he is doing, may be engaged in conducting research. For
example, a farmer who makes a wooden wheel with wide planks as fans to spill water from a
pool to his land for irrigation and the one who makes a device with a basket of net fixed at
one end of a long hook to pick the ripe mangoes from the trees without letting it fall down are
all doing research in their own crude way. They do not follow any methodology or research
philosophy as the scholars do to get their degree of merit: what guides the farmer is the
necessity that he faces at the moment. All the service providers and tool manufacturers are
conducting shot-term and long-term researches for such inventions to catch up with the
modern market or the changing world. These activities are not always considered research by
many of us.

It is not wrong if one says that research is an activity in the daily life to fulfill the
requirements of the changing needs in the society. For instance, one who wants to buy a car
may investigate the car market to find out answers to his questions like, ‘Which car is
economical, convenient, fashionable, etc.?’ But such investigations do not come under the
label of research in the strictest sense of the term as far as educationalists are concerned. The
term research is used in different ways by different people: undergraduate students’ term
paper is a research project; some people conduct research to buy properties or invest money;
and scholars make their in-depth study on a particular topic. That means, the implications
vary depending on the context and the people involved.

A research always begins with a question. Asking a relevant question is more important than
answering the question. A researcher cannot answer the research questions by himself and he
has to depend on outside help to solve the problems. All the materials or data available on the
topic, both recorded and unrecorded, should be studied and analyzed to get or formulate the
answers. The moment the researcher gets the answers to his questions, the research is over.
There is no point in continuing the research if the researcher has found the answers to his
research questions when he is half the way through. The research fails when the research
questions go wrong. Beginning a research with a wrong question is an incorrigible step as a
faulty question can never lead to the correct answer. On the other hand, a wrong answer can
be corrected if the question is pertinent: a wrong question can not prove one to be correct.
However, if one begins with a sound philosophical foundation, the research questions will
never go astray.

Vol. 5 Issue 4 104 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

Academically, research is a means to study a phenomenon. According to Kothari (2009) a
research is a scientific and systematic search for appropriate information on a specific topic.
An academic investigation cannot be considered a research unless it contributes to the body
of existing scientific knowledge. The scope of research is ever widening as human needs
keep on increasing or changing day by day! To put it in a nutshell, what a researcher does is
collecting data and processing them to formulate information! The ‘data’ is raw material and
the information is finished product. For instance, sugar-cane may be considered as data which
is put into the machine to process and get sugar, the finished product which may be taken as
information. In other words, ‘data’ is the unprocessed information and information is the
processed data! Research should be: systematic, logical, well-planned, scientific, unbiased,
verifiable, valid, reliable, empirical, relevant and useful. It should follow a predetermined
methodology, one of the major philosophical aspects of research, to ensure its reliability,
validity and verifiability. The ever-increasing demand for the scientific materials and services
call upon the new generation to conduct researches to fill up the knowledge-gap.

Acquiring knowledge is a continuous process, and research is a means to attain it!

Researchers are careful and diligent to acquire what is new on a given topic. The spirit of
enquiry, in addition to the necessities, makes students look for knowledge in various fields.
The research scholars who start the study have to find out the knowledge gap in the area they
work on with the purpose that their answers to the research questions will fill the gap. It is
like putting the exact piece on a jigsaw puzzle to complete the picture. The answers to the
research questions are expected to supply the missing pieces of information. If the research is
to get a piece of information which is already known to the world, it will be a meaningless
effort. The findings which are additions to the existing body of knowledge are inevitable for
the development of society. The need of the society has been changing from time to time,
from time immemorial, and it will go on so long as the way of life undergoes changes.
Therefore, the research activities will never end though the methodology and methods may
change in accordance with the philosophical bases.

The scholars and students talk about a variety of researches. Kothari (2004) delineates the
dichotomous classes of the main research types, based on their specific characteristics, as
follows: a) Descriptive vs. Analytical; b) Applied vs. Fundamental; c) Quantitative vs.
Qualitative; d) Conceptual vs. Empirical; and e) Others which include One-time research &
Longitudinal research, Field setting research, Laboratory research, Historical research, etc.
Each type is selected based on the nature of the problem, sources available for the research,
the researcher’s interest, objectives of the study, and so on. Of all the types of researches, the
most widely discussed classes are quantitative and qualitative researches. According to
Richard Nordquist (2017), “Quantitative research involves the systematic collection and
analysis of data.” Qualitative research, on the other hand, collects and analyses opinions,
views, ideas, attitudes, approaches, phenomena, etc., and so it tends to be more subjective.
Since it is practically impossible to be confined strictly to a particular type of research, a
combination of two or more types are often used by the scholars.

Whatever type one selects for the study, the application of the philosophical norms is
necessary to give it a scientific explanation. The research process may be different for the
different types of research. The research process refers to various activities a researcher has
to complete. Scholars like Kothari (2004), Dronyei (2007), and Creswell (2009) have

Vol. 5 Issue 4 105 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

illustrated different procedures of the academic research. The most common activities of a
researcher may be briefed as: a) defining and redefining the problems; b) formulating
hypothesis or suggested solutions; c) collecting, organizing, analyzing, and evaluating data;
d) making deductions and reaching conclusions; e) testing the conclusions to determine
whether they fit in with the hypothesis and research questions; and f) writing the research
report. Empirical conclusions should be based on data or evidence collected impartially from
the subjects or samples. These activities may be described as the building process of the
edifice called research. All these are based on the invisible foundation known as the research
philosophy.

The philosophical basis as the abstract intellectual assumption is there to give all the types of
researches a scientific touch. Philosophy, taken as the attitude that acts as the guiding
principles here, can be attributed to the way researchers behave in their academic
investigations. Their attitude determines the research paradigm depending on the type of
research the scholar chooses. Since philosophy refers to the nature of knowledge, reality and
existence, research paradigms are closely related to these concepts. Moreover, questioning,
rational argument, and critical thinking are the part and parcel of philosophical notions, and it
cannot miss the scientific elements in the answers to the research questions.

The research paradigm refers to the approach or a research model to conducting a research
that has been verified by the scholars and research community and that has been accepted as a
norm for hundreds of years. According to Kuhn, ‘research paradigm is the set of common
beliefs and agreements shared between scientists about how problems should be understood
and addressed.’ According to Creswell (2003), there are four schools of thought about
knowledge: these are Positivism/Post-Positivism, Constructivism, Advocacy/Participatory
and Pragmatism. Positivism has governed the traditional claim of the absolute truth of
knowledge. Post-Positivism has recognized that it is impossible to be ‘positive’ about our
claims of knowledge when studying the behavior and actions of human beings.

In plain words, paradigm is a widely accepted example, belief or concept like interpretivism,
constructivism, positivism, etc. It is a set of assumptions about how things work. The
interpretive paradigm deals with understanding the world as it is based on the subjective
experiences. It depends on measuring the meaning by means of interviews or participant
observations, which reveal the meaning oriented methodology. In a qualitative type of
research, the subjective relationship between the researcher and the subject is inevitable in
interpretivism. The constructivism is a pattern of using the collected data to construct the
researcher’s own theory. Similarly, the positivism explores the social reality. The social-
constructivism, with the positivist epistemological beliefs, depends on mixed-methods. One
might feel that philosophy and paradigm interact with each other; however, philosophy is the
intellectual assumption and paradigm is a worldview on the research work.

Most often a study in humanities will be on the characteristics of the people or a large
number of people. For example, a researcher who wants to investigate the literacy rate of the
country may have different choices before him. It is humanly impossible for the researcher to
approach each and every one in the country to get the information, and so he has to choose a
sample of the representative group of the population to make the study, or he has to depend
on different governmental and/or non-governmental organizations to collect data for the

Vol. 5 Issue 4 106 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

study. Researchers make use of a variety of sampling techniques to study the sample groups
and test and evaluate them. The purpose of choosing the sample groups is to make the study
as scientific as possible. A research cannot be a cooked-up story or imaginary descriptions on
a particular topic. Taking the facts away from fiction, ‘methodology’, an important
philosophical aspect of research, ensures the research to be scientific.

Philosophy denotes the underlying abstract assumptions, and when it comes to the philosophy
of research, it delineates the theory or belief about data collection, analysis and use of a
phenomenon. Philosophy is the theory or attitude that acts as a guide. It is the study of the
fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. In the academic scenario, a research
cannot be scientific without considering the philosophical concepts like Ontology,
Epistemology, Methodology, and Axiology. The scientific features of research question,
hypothesis, research method, research paradigm, etc. are directly linked to the philosophical
notions. Guba (1990) says, “Research paradigms can be characterized through ontology,
epistemology, and methodology.” That is, the belief about reality, study of knowledge,
discovery and analysis of knowledge, and the study of the values of research are all related to
certain belief systems like positivism, interpretivism, pragmatism, etc. These concepts
address the often unspoken assumptions that rest beneath the surface of the research and
theory.

First and foremost, Ontology1 poses the philosophical question of existence. It is the study of
the nature of being or the belief about the reality. While considering reality, one comes to the
binary divisions called: ‘single reality’ and ‘multiple realities’. Single reality refers to
‘realism’ and multiple realities refer to ‘relativism’. The findings of the research will either
be related to realism or relativism. This dichotomous branching of reality goes in line with
the quantitative and qualitative types of research respectively. That means, single reality
(realism) is associated with the quantitative method of research while multiple realities
(relativism) are associated with the qualitative method of research. The answers to the
ontological questions can be objective (realistic) or subjective (relative). A research
candidate, while defending his research paper, may be asked, “What is the ontological basis
of your research?” If he has followed the interpretive paradigm, his answer has to be
“relativism”, and it needs a thorough knowledge about the philosophy underlying the
research work. It refers to the philosophy of existence and the nature of the phenomena he
studied. One may get confused in this case when philosophy (ontology) overlaps paradigm
(interpretivism); however, paradigms are the parametric dimensions of research philosophy.
To determine the type of knowledge the research has produced, ontology dictates
epistemology.

1
‘Existentialism’, an offshoot of philosophy based on ontology, was originated as part of the
avant-garde movement of the early 20th century, and it held sway in the university campuses
in 1960s and 1970s all over the world. The existentialists lament that life is meaningless,
absurd and made futile by death and it is thrust up on humans with no choice whatsoever. The
literary works of Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Frans Kafka reflected the existential
philosophy and they were considered some of the traits of modernism in the latter part of the
20th century.

Vol. 5 Issue 4 107 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

Secondly, the views on the epistemological questions are the most fundamental of all the
philosophical concepts of research. Being the study of knowledge, epistemology looks for
justifiable true belief as its prime business. If a statement in the research finding is “The
people have walked on the moon”, then the statement must be justifiable with evidence, it
must be true and one must believe in it. That shows how closely epistemology is related to
research. Epistemology is of different types: philosophical epistemology is divided into
empiricism (based on experience and observation) and rationalism (based on reason and
logic); the non-philosophical epistemology is common in academics and scientific attempts
as in science (natural sciences) and arts (humanities); genetic epistemology shows how
children acquire knowledge; and social epistemology appears in social contexts or in
academic fields to create new knowledge. As in the case of ontology, there is a dichotomous
bifurcation of epistemology as etic (outside) and emic (inside). Etic study refers to studying a
phenomenon, idea or object from outside without being a part of it while emic study refers to
studying a phenomena, idea or object from within by being a part of it. A research work may
be conducted either by observing the subjects from a distance or by active involvement with
the subjects depending on the methodology of the research. Thus, to determine the type of
knowledge, epistemology dictates methodology.

Thirdly, research methodology explains the theoretical and philosophical frameworks that
guide the research. Research methodology is different from research methods in that the
former refers to why one uses x, y, or z as a method in research. Etymologically, it means the
study of methods. The term ‘method’, on the other hand, refers to the techniques like
interview, survey, observation, etc. the researcher uses to gather information. The research
methods are the tools, techniques or processes the researcher uses to collect data. In other
words, methodology is ‘how-did-the-researchers-complete-the-study’ part and method is
‘what-did-the-researchers-use-for-their-study’ part. Like the other philosophical ideas,
research methodology is also dichotomous as a) objective (unbiased and statistically
accurate) and b) subjective (based on personal views). The objective methods are related to
quantitative (deductive) research and the subjective methods are related to qualitative
(inductive) research. A very convincing example of objective and subjective type of research
is delineated by Prof. Johannes Cronje as ‘quantitative (objective) research is baking and
qualitative (subjective) research is cooking’. In baking, the amount of the ingredients will be
exact and the taste and quality will be the same and it will be mathematically perfect.
However, in cooking, the ingredients may vary depending on the person who cooks it and so
the taste and quality will not be the same. It is clear that research methodology does influence
the process of research just as the methods in baking and cooking do. Whether they are
objective or subjective, collecting and analyzing data take the researcher to the results which
are valuable contributions to the body of knowledge. To determine the nature of the research
findings, methodology dictates axiology.

Finally, axiology is the branch of philosophy which is the study of values. It identifies the
outcome of the research. The axiological questions of the research will show the worth of the
study, and the outcome of the study will be the basis of assessing the social commitment. It
illustrates the guiding values and the utility of the research. Axiology prompts what values
should guide the research and it determines what values or outcomes will emerge from the
research. It decides whether the research can be neutral or be influenced by the personal
views. The axiological questions look into the facts like whether one should seek just to

Vol. 5 Issue 4 108 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
 LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

understand or seek to change the world for better. The research paradigms in line with the
philosophical bases will determine the end product of the research.

A typical elite view on research is that ontology, epistemology, methodology and axiology
help one understand and appreciate research in more sophisticated ways. These concepts
constitute the framework of research in all the fields of study whether it is social sciences or
natural sciences. Some of them, at times, become strictures on the freedom of the researchers
too. The research supervisors get the scholars streamlined strictly on the theoretical and
philosophical outfit in the actual practice of conducting a research in the universities. It starts
from selecting a topic or the commencement of the research and the rules and regulations will
continue up to the very end till submitting the final paper. However, one finds it as little as
just forty percent of the work as necessary or inevitable for the research and the rest forms
part of the technical formalities. In the earlier days, it was not so strict or rigid: in many
universities there was no system of demanding proposal and getting it approved before
beginning the real research. No one knows what it will look like in the future.

New theories and practices begin with some changes always and the trend keeps up the
novelty all the time. No wonder that everything changes, or nothing is permanent. Therefore,
in the wake of the quest for changes, there has to be changes in the research philosophy and
research paradigm as well. If not the conventionalists, the rebellious youngsters may try it
just like a chick that pecks on the shell of the egg from inside to break it and come out
without waiting for the mother-bird to peck at and break the shell from outside to hatch. Only
the chicks that are active will take the initiative to come out of the shell, and they will be
strong enough to face the tough outer world better than their sluggish companions. It is time
to break the ice in the field of research processes in connection with the hidden abstract
concepts to keep up with the ever-changing trends.

REFERENCES
1. Creswell, J.W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications Inc., 2009.
2. Davis, M., B. Doing a Successful Research Project: Using Qualitative or Quantitative
Methods. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
3. Dornyei, Z. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative,qualitative and
Mixed Methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
4. Jackson, Sherri L. Research Methods and Statistics: A Critical Thinking Approach.
Wadsworth: Cengage Macmillan, 2012.
5. Jackson, Sherri L. Research Methods: A Modular Approach. Boston: Cengage
Learning, 2014.
6. Kothari, C. R. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New
Age International, 2004.
7. Muijs, D. Doing Quantitative Research in Education. London: Sage Publications,
2004.
8. Nunan, D. Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1992.

Vol. 5 Issue 4 109 May, 2019

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602

Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI