Research philosophy

“Your research philosophy is a reflection of your values”

Positivism Interpretivism

Research approach

The reasoning employed to approach research

The approach to theory development

Deductive Induction

Theory Findings

Observations/Findings Theory

Research design

Framework or guide for the collection and analysis of data (links with
research question)

Exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, evaluative

Research method

Technique used to collect data

Qualitative Quantitative

Data collection method/tool/instrument

Experiment, questionnaire, interview, focus group, observation etc.

 Common relationships

Positivism Critical realism, Pragmatism Interpretivism

Deduction Deduction and induction Induction

(abduction and retroduction – note discussion)

Descriptive, explanatory, evaluative Exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, evaluative Exploratory

Quantitative Qualitative and Quantitative Qualitative

Questionnaire, experiments Questionnaire, experiments, focus groups, Interviews, focus groups

interviews, observation etc. observation etc.