Methodological ontology

Authors

  • Kwok Kuen Tsang University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Keywords:

quantitative methodology; qualitative methodology; positivism; interpretivism; objectivism; methodological ontology

Abstract

The aim of this article is to consider the question why we can combine quantitativeand qualitative methodologies, which represent different and contradictoryepistemologies, in social research. This article suggests that, in addition topragmatism, the more fundamental thing underpinning and legitimizing themixture of the methodologies is the methodological ontology of objectivism.

References

Babbie, E., 2007. The practice of social research (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Blumer, H., 1969. Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bryman, A., 1988. Quantity and quality in social research. London: Routledge.

Creswell, J.W., 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods (3rd ed.). California: Sage

Publications.

Feilzer, M.Y., 2010. Doing mixed methods researh pragmatically: Implications for the rediscovery of pragmatism as

a research paradigm. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 4(1), 6-16. doi: 10.1177/1558689809349691

Giddens, A., 1971. Capitalism and modern social theory: An analysis of the writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max

Weber. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Giddens, A., 1984. The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Berkeley: University of

California Press.

Giddens, A., 1993. New rules of sociological method: A positive critique of interpretative sociologies (2nd ed.).

Cambridge: Polity Press.

Goldthorpe, J.H., 2007. On Sociology (2nd ed. Vol. 1). Standford: Standford University Press.

McNeill, P., Chapman, S., 2005. Research methods (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

Small, M. L. (2011). How to conduct a mixed methods study: Recent trends in a rapidly growing literature. Annual

Review of Sociology, 37, 57-86.

Tashakkori, A., Teddlie, C., 1998. Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches

Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Zeitlin, I.M., 1987. Ideology and the Development of Sociological Theory (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Published

2013-05-31

How to Cite

Kuen Tsang, K. . (2013). Methodological ontology. Scientific Journal of Medical Science, 2(5), 128-130. Retrieved from http://sjournals.com/index.php/sjms/article/view/659

Issue

Section

Social Sciences