BUSINESS RESEARCH

Research Philosophies in Business Research

Abstract

There are different schools of philosophy followed by different researchers according to the need of the subject matter and the desired outcomes. These philosophical perspectives have principal research implications. Therefore, research should be methodologically carried out based on the philosophical school of thought of the researcher. Since business research falls under the social sciences research, a number of philosophical approaches could be undertaken to conduct research. The research philosophy to base the research on depends on the discretion of the researcher. However, it has been found out through numerous studies that intermediate research philosophies be applied in business researches. Also, a research philosophy has a direct impact on the research methodology, research problem, and ultimately the research outcomes, so it must be wisely chosen.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Research Philosophy1

Discussion2

Epistemology2

Positivism2

Realism3

Interpretivism3

Ontology4

Objectivism4

Subjectivism4

Pragmatism5

Axiology5

Conclusion5

References7

Research Philosophies in Business Research

Introduction

Business Research

Business research means a research undertaken in order to find out the implications of a phenomena or a variable on a business's operations, strategies, and results. Business researches are conducted to find out the variables that lead to revenue generation by positively effecting various business situations. Through conducting a research in existing business market, an organization can get closer to fulfilment of its purpose of existence i.e. profit maximization. The main purpose of a business research is to benefit a company through helping it to build both internal and external competitive competencies that would lead to its success (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007, p. 560).

Research Philosophy

Research philosophy means the development of a distinct nature of knowledge. The knowledge development tasks a researcher undertakes are based on a theory of motivation. A research attempts to answer a question, explain a phenomenon, or discourse on the cause of effect relationship of variables and thus, results in new knowledge creation. For that reason, any research philosophy adopted has certain important assumptions underlying your perspective of the issue at hand. As a consequence, the research philosophy impacts the practical considerations and knowledge development (Holden & Lynch, 2004. p. 398).

Discussion

Every research is based upon a school of thought that has a certain system of logical reasoning. Contemporary research stems from two basic types of logical reasoning i.e. inductive and deductive logical systems. Stemming from these methods of reasoning are various philosophies in modern business research, which are as follows.

Epistemology

Epistemology is based upon the acceptable knowledge in a certain area of interest. The researcher here takes data on all the resources required and acts like a natural scientist. Epistemology business researchers typically have operations management as their subject area because they base their research on collection and analysis of solid facts (Scandura & Williams, 2000, p. 1252).

These researchers objectify reality to avoid any biasness and thus, argue that their research results are very authentic. According to Remenyi (1998, p. 32) the researches conducted by the epistemology researches are quantifiable, as they study variables that have an external reality and are not based on feelings. These researchers base their research on measurable data that can be easily presented in a statistical ...