Shifting of the ontological-epistemological balance in contemporary research agendas: A critique

Gopinath, Deepak

Abstract

With greater calls for public involvement, there are now claims of methodological shifts to ‘bottom-up’, ‘politically informed’ and ‘boundary-less’ approaches. This is not accurate as there is still predominantly an emphasis on epistemological considerations (for instance, in how knowledge of ‘issues’ being investigated are created and/or discovered)—seen through various community engagement forums and/or transfer of resources to local actors. However, the ontological (concerned with problem definition, ‘what is actually the issue being investigated’, ‘what do I/we think about it’) is not effectively conceptualised and understood in the local space by local actors. Thus, in order for actual shifts to ‘bottom-up’, ‘politically informed’ and ‘boundary less’ approaches to take place, mechanisms to shape the ontology of the research problem must be facilitated in local spaces.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jul 25, 2014
• Publication Date: Sep 30, 2015
• Journal: Quality and Quantity
• Print ISSN: 0033-5177
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-7845
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1873-1882
• Keywords: research methodology, epistemology, ontology, local space, local actors, public policy
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/805293