historia

ίστορία, or historia, is a Greek word that means not only to investigate or to enquire, but also to share the fruits of those investigations with the world.

It is not my intention to have this site as place for my online journal. I wish it to be more of an online community with my friends and family making contributions to an intellectual dialog. To that exent this is an invitation for all of you not only to read and enjoy this page, but to make contributions to it as well.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Philosophical Worldviews

Before I take my first graduate Political Science course, I thought that I would brush up on their research methods. I have taken a graduate Historical Research Methods course, but I know that the Social Scientists do things a bit differently. For example, most historians don't really worry about quantitative research (too busy finding scarce primary source documents, so you certainly can't find accurate numbers). However, American Military University in their wisdom gave me transfer credit for my Historical Research Methods class so I don't have to take the Research Methods in Social Sciences class. This is good, but I was sort of looking forward to learning about the research methodology.

So I ordered the textbook for the Research Methods class and am reading through it before my Public Policy class begins (Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, by John Creswell). In this textbook Creswell mentions four Philosophical Worldviews the different researchers may or may not have. He says that it is important to figure out your worldview before you start designing your research project so that you can use the best research methods that will complement your philosophical outlook.

I found out that I have two different outlooks depending upon what type of paper I am writing. As a Historian I have what Creswell calls the Social Constructive worldview. I look at the society and individuals in the time period without preconceptions and try to figure out what was going on way back when, understanding that different societies have different worldviews themselves. When I am working on a Political Science paper I realize that I am what Creswell calls a Pragmatist; more concerned with finding out what works in a messy world, than worried about creating a theory that fits all the facts. I then find out that Rorty (a philosopher favored by Andrew) has written about Pragmatism, and I should use this occasion to learn more about Rorty and Pragmatism.

Perhaps Andrew has a reading list for me.

3 Comments:

  • At 6:17 AM, Blogger Andrew said…

    Cheers to pragmatism! You wrote: "[I am] more concerned with finding out what works in a messy world, than worried about creating a theory that fits all the facts." This is indeed true of Rorty as well if only because he denies the existence of facts! According to him there are no aboslute truths - historical, metaphysical, or otherwise. This raises the question [and absolutely does not in any way "beg the question" *Andrew sighs*]: is Rorty a relativist? Can we have a coherent worldview if we deny the existence of facts?

    I'll get right to work on that list!

     
  • At 6:20 AM, Blogger Andrew said…

    One more thing. You wrote, "I look at the society and individuals in the time period without preconceptions." Rorty would call that an impossible task.

     
  • At 3:32 PM, Blogger Jon Benignus said…

    Andrew,

    Good point on your 2nd comment, I should have said "... while trying to keep and open mind" instead of "without preconceptions."

     

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