A conceptualization dilemma: Knowing the (un)known!
For the majority of management students market research is all about quantitative analysis with charts and graphs. Very little, we appreciate the importance of qualitative methods; and try to explore the larger picture of research in general. My previous article discussed the mind map for beginners, as a response — a couple of young researchers felt, that they dwell in the horns of the dilemma of the ‘truth’ and a ‘belief’. When they draw a mind map (finding a Rhino), it is either their belief that dominates or the existing truth. Hence, leading to some uncertainty.
Many times, we see the research problem as blind men’s elephant. Each of the blind men is right, but at the same time, all of them are wrong. Therefore, it is a dilemma of the truth and a belief that every researcher experience while conceptualising. This article is for the beginners who go through conceptual conundrum.
An in-depth understanding of ‘epistemology’ — a theory of knowledge, helps to overcome the initial conceptual shortcomings. While conceptualizing, it is essential to ask a question, ‘who we are’, as a researcher; the standpoint or perspective we hold to see the world around us. There are numerous epistemological perspectives such as Plato’s epistemology, Locke’s epistemology, Kant’s epistemology, Russell’s epistemology and Feminist epistemology and so on. In all these cases, epistemology tries to understand cognitive success or failure.
Knowing the known!
As we know, research is a branch of philosophy, and it is the pursuit of knowledge; a friend of mine wanted to know, ‘what research’ meant to me, I said, “curiosity led action!”. Furthermore, there are two types of research quest one can follow while conceptualizing: i) Known to unknown and ii) Unknown to known. A representation of the research quest is shown below:
Although, there are two types of research quest — I follow the simple path of knowing the known! As there are predefined assumptions to set the research context. An illustration showing knowing the known using causation.
The research is an intellectual peregrination which helps to find the best possible outcomes. It is also an exciting journey of a researcher to explore his/her epistemological views. Therefore, when you are in a dilemma, ask yourself, is your research path lead to known to the unknown, unknown to known or known to known.
Well, this article is crafted based on critical realism!
I hope you find this article interesting.
Happy reading :)
