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Philosophy Theory and Methods:
Becoming a world-class Social
Science Researcher

Muhammad Kashif
Assistant Professor, Service Management
GIFT University, Pakistan
Brand Ambassador, Emerald Publishing
Email: kashif@gift.edu.pk
Lecture Outline
• Why we see – the way we see it? The mind-set / philosophy /
paradigms in social science research

• Methodological choices – reasons, challenges and perspectives

• A perspective on theory building in social sciences

 What is Philosophy ☺ - a practical example
• Phenomenon: A gradual increase in sales of our store brand – why?

• Reality: Mr. A believes strong brand name made it happen

Mr. X assumed that a decrease in price increased sales
Ms B believes that advertisements resulted in increased sales

• Truth: Findings of our study showed that 73% of customers were

impressed by the advertisements that made them to buy the brand.

• Knowledge: Creative advertisements boost your sales of retail brands

 What is Philosophy ☺ - another practical
example
• Phenomenon: Employees are leaving the company? But why?

• Reality: Mr. A believes a recent cut in salaries made it happen

Mr. X assumes the core reason is negative supervisory attitude
Ms B believes that increasing incidents of discrimination at
work is resulting in high turnover rates
Mrs M is of the opinion that competing firms offer better career

• Truth: Findings of employee survey and exit interviews showed that 64%
employees left the organization due to negative supervisory behaviors.

• Knowledge: negative supervision results in high turnover intent and behavior

 What is Philosophy?

• “A dialogue concerning phenomenon, reality, truth and knowledge” ☺

 What is Philosophy of Social Science (complex
science)?
• “A continuous dialogue concerning (socio-political) phenomenon,
(multiple)realities, (subjective)truth and (ever-shaping)knowledge” ☺

• Continuous dialogue
• Socio-political phenomenon
• Multiple realities
• Subjective truth
• Ever-shaping knowledge
 Positivism and Interpretivism: Two
Philosophical Paradigms
Nature of Reality Positivist Interpretivist

What is reality? Singular, fixed and concrete process Subjective, and is socially
constructed

Researcher and the researched It exists independent of a Close social interaction between
researcher researcher and the researched

Value system (axiology) Value-free and idealistically Value-driven – presenting social

unbiased aura

Research process Deductive (cause and effect, Inductive (context specific and
research design is static, quantity understanding of phenomenon as
and set of predictions) well as design emerges during data
collection)
 Positivism and Interpretivism: Practical
Example
Nature of Reality
What is reality? Truth discovery
Researcher and the researched
Value system (axiology)
Research process
Positivist Mind
What is the impact of an increase
in salaries on employee retention
at Shell Co. ?
Survey or experiment – no
interaction / discussions about the
issue at hand
Social biases needs to be managed
and results will be based on some
statistical data – numeric form
Deductive (formulation of a
hypothesis towards statistical
inference and decision making)
Interpretivist Mind
Why employees stay with
Multinational organizations?
Focus group / interviews,
observations, ethnography to
answer why
Phenomenon to be cooked in local
culture / rituals / corporate stories
and real life
Inductive (observation of a
phenomenon to development of a
theory)
What is a theory – why we need them?
• A theory provides us the reasoning behind “why something happens”.

• Employees leave a company because of destructive supervisory

behaviors – but why? How destructive supervisory behaviors force
employees to leave companies?

• What are various reasons? Why all these reasons can be assumed as a
truth?
 Theory – why we need – a practical example
Phenomenon Theory Logic
Ego-depletion theory Employees leave because when supervisors insult
them, their self-esteem and ego is depleted. Once
their ego is depleted, or they feel fear of it, they tend
to leave the company because they cannot / do not
want to tolerate their self-respect.
Affective Events Theory The events at work change employees’ attitude. The
Employees leave their continuity of negative events (bad boss) change
companies due to employee attitude towards the company and they
destructive supervisory leave.
behaviors ☺ Social Comparison Theory The employees compare their experience and the
experience of their colleagues with the boss. In cases
where they find differential treatment (i.e. boss is
abusing him / her while treating others kindly), they
feel shameful and decide to leave the company.

Conservation of Resources Abusive behaviors cause stress thus the affectees

Theory (employee) feel his / her confidence and motivation
(as resources) will deplete under this supervisor. Thus
they decide to quit the organization.
 Why we see – what we see / notice / observe?
Your philosophy helps you to define your role
Our Role ☺ What you see / notice / observe / willing to study

A psychologist The psychological mechanisms that cause mental stress, fatigue,

depression and trauma among employees

A crime investigator Who is the culprit? Who committed a social crime? What led to this
social crime? Who should be penalized?

A human resource manager Was employee a bad performer? Is this turnover within the
acceptable percentage of employee turnover? What impact the
employee turnover will have on motivation of other members of a
unit?
A Language expert Which words and body language was exchanged between
supervisor and subordinate? What is the sociology of words? What
type of social meanings were created due to this conversation?
 Philosophy defines the theories you select
What you see / notice / observe / willing to study The Theories

Psychologist: The psychological mechanisms that cause mental Conservation of Resources theory – my
stress, fatigue, depression and trauma among employees resources will be depleted, a through that
causes stress

Crime Investigator: Who is the culprit – main factor behind this General Theory of Crime – identification
criminal behavior? Who committed a social crime? What led to this of a main player behind a social crime
social crime? Who should be penalized?

HR Manager: Was employee a bad performer? Is this turnover Social Dominance Theory – how and
within the acceptable percentage of employee turnover? What when poor performance leads to abusive
impact the employee turnover will have on motivation of other supervision?
members of a unit?

Language Expert: Which words and body language was exchanged Symbolic Interactionism Theory – how the
between supervisor and subordinate? What is the sociology of spoken words and body language affect
words? What type of social meanings were created due to this employee behaviors at workplace as
conversation? social system
Philosophy and Theory: As a research student ☺
What you see / notice / observe / willing to study The Theories

PhD in Psychology : The psychological mechanisms that cause Conservation of Resources theory – my
mental stress, fatigue, depression and trauma among employees resources will be depleted, a through that
causes stress

PhD in criminology: Who is the culprit – main factor behind this General Theory of Crime – identification
criminal behavior? Who committed a social crime? What led to this of a main player behind a social crime
social crime? Who should be penalized?

PhD in Management: Was employee a bad performer? Is this Social Dominance Theory – how and
turnover within the acceptable percentage of employee turnover? when poor performance leads to abusive
What impact the employee turnover will have on motivation of supervision?
other members of a unit?

PhD in Language: Which words and body language was exchanged Symbolic Interactionism Theory – how the
between supervisor and subordinate? What is the sociology of spoken words and body language affect
words? What type of social meanings were created due to this employee behaviors at workplace as
conversation? social system
Philosophy, Theory and Methods

Quantitative
Qualitative

Deductive
Inductive

Positivism
Interpretivism
 Positivist, Deductive and quantitative: A practical
example
• RQ derived out of a Positivist Philosophy:
What is the impact of teacher personality as charismatic leader on students’
motivation to learn English language?

• Deduction:
Based on theory of motivation, hypothetical relationships will be established
between leader personality (considering teachers as leaders) and students’
motivation to learn (students as followers).

Methods (Quantitative): Numeric data will be statistically analyzed and

presented for quantitative accuracy.
Interpretivist, Inductive and qualitative: A practical
example
• RQ derived out of an Interpretivist Philosophy:
How a teacher is source of motivation for PhD students?

• Induction:
Observation that students seek motivation from their teachers – they get
inspired

Methods (Qualitative) Interviews will be conducted from PhD students,

resulting in themes and later on some propositions.
Contributing to Theory Building in Social Sciences ☺
What are various ways to make theoretical contribution?
• Where do you exist – what type of theorist / scientist (if) you are?
Kuhn (1962), “the structure of scientific revolutions”

• Under normal science or in the revolutionary science – gap spotting

or problematization? ☺
Normal Science – gap spotting Revolutionary science – problematization

-Borrow a logic / reasoning from already Rejects prior work and resumes with new set of
established theories assumptions – testified and falsifiable

Apply these in new ways / manners or, to address Addressing old questions in new ways
new questions

It is about filling an important “gap” Raising new important questions ☺

What is a theoretical contribution – its various forms?
1. Attempt to replicate previously tested (a study conducted in USA, replicated in
assumptions in new settings Dubai on account of cultural difference)
2. Study of similar effects that have been The relationships are proposed but not
proposed tested so far
3. Introduction of a new mediator or a A moderate level of theory building that
moderator to study existing relationships adds explanations (mediator) and conditions
(moderator) to the study of a phenomenon
4. Examining previously unexplored - Bringing a new construct – forgiveness at
relationships – bringing a change in thinking work
- Reading the work of Imam Ghazali (R.A)
5. Introducing a new construct or to advance knowledge in Business Ethics
reconceptualization of a new one - Akber and his multiculturalism
 Contributing through replication
• What is a replication study?
“a systematic analysis to assess whether results of previous studies can
be reproduced with new data in new contexts”.
Original Study New Design New context
A cross-sectional survey data A time-lagged survey data
collected from American collected from American business-
undergraduate students about school graduate students about
role of teacher personality in role of teacher personality in
motivation to learn from online motivation to learn from online
teaching in USA teaching in USA
A cross-sectional survey data
collected from African
undergraduate students about
role of teacher personality in
motivation to learn from online
teaching in the context of Tunisia
 Contributing through replication (continued..)
Original Study
A cross-sectional survey data
collected from American
undergraduate students about
role of teacher personality in
motivation to learn from online
teaching in USA
New Design New context
A time-lagged survey data
collected from American business-
school undergraduate, graduate
and postgraduate students about
role of teacher personality in
motivation to learn from online
teaching in USA
A cross-sectional survey data
collected from African and Asian
undergraduate students about the
role of teacher personality in
motivation to learn from online
teaching in the context of Tunisia
and China
When to replicate: some conditions
Replicate When:

1. the context is important and can produce some contradictory

findings compared to the previously held study
2. the managers / public policy makers are seeking for answers for a
given context
3. Replication can contribute to generalizability of a research finding
through adding new design, data or the context
4. Non-significant as well as significant results need further
explanation
 Contributing through Mediating and
Moderating variables
Type of variable Role in a framework Reasons to include
Mediator - Adds to further details Manipulation Check: the planned intervention produced a
change?
Improvement in explanation: the mediator is planned to add
to details in a framework.
Testing a theory: does it improves causal inference?

Moderator Modifies the form / alters Third view-adding to conditions: When you have to
the strength of acknowledges the complexity of social sciences
relationships Specify the effect: the conditions that effect change in social
behaviors or do not bring a change
Test of a theoretical assumption: Boys smoke frequently than
girls – do they? Students with high grades are employed –
really?
Learning outcomes
• In social sciences, there could be multiple realities and one phenomenon can be
understood differently by individuals, leading to a subjective truth that may evolve
with the passage of time.
• The positivists see objective realities that are value-free while interpretivists
appreciate multiple realities that are value-driven.
• Theories provide us explanations as why something happens
• Your role and your interests dictate your philosophical positions
• Your philosophical position defines your research objectives, selection of theory
and choice of methods
• The replication, addition of mediators and moderators as well as introduction of
new relationships and constructs are various practical forms of contributions in a
research study
• The mediator and moderator add to theory testing and have different set of
reasons to add these in a framework.
 References
• Aquino, K., Grover, S. L., Goldman, B., & Folger, R. (2003). When push doesn't come to shove: Interpersonal
forgiveness in workplace relationships. Journal of Management Inquiry, 12(3), 209-216.
• Block, J., & Kuckertz, A. (2018). Seven principles of effective replication studies: strengthening the evidence
base of management research.
• Bettis, R. A., Helfat, C. E., & Shaver, J. M. (2016). The necessity, logic, and forms of replication. Strategic
Management Journal, 37(11), 2193-2203.
• Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2011). Building theory about theory building: what constitutes a theoretical
contribution?. Academy of management review, 36(1), 12-32.
• Colquitt, J. A., & Zapata-Phelan, C. P. (2007). Trends in theory building and theory testing: A five-decade study
of the Academy of Management Journal. Academy of Management Journal, 50(6), 1281-1303.
• Elias, S., & Feagin, J. R. (2016). Racial theories in social science: A systemic racism critique. Routledge.
• Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Swedberg, R. (2017). Theorizing in sociological research: A new perspective, a new departure?. Annual Review
of Sociology, 43, 189-206.
• Swedberg, R. (2016). Before theory comes theorizing or how to make social science more interesting. The
British journal of sociology, 67(1), 5-22.
• Sidani, Y., & Al Ariss, A. (2015). New conceptual foundations for Islamic business ethics: The contributions of
Abu-Hamid Al-Ghazali. Journal of business ethics, 129(4), 847-857.
• Syed, J. (2011). Akbar's multiculturalism: lessons for diversity management in the 21st century. Canadian
Journal of Administrative Sciences/Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration, 28(4), 402-412.
 Thank you for listening

Your questions are motivation ☺