Understanding Academic Research: Simplified  

Comparison of Views of Different Schools of Thought in Academic Research

Academic Research is an investigation, a study of materials to establish facts and reach new conclusions (Read: What is Research Methodology?). Research requires searching for knowledge to establish facts and reach new conclusions. However, there are different schools of thought, such as Positivist, Constructivist, Social Constructivist, Empiricist and Pragmatist, in the research viewpoint. Those communities have five main views as Observation, Theories, Experiments, Observation within Social-settings and Observation through Involvement. The views of those communities are compared in the below table.

Comparison of Views of Different Schools of Thought

Community	Views	Observation	Theories	Experiment	Social-settings	Involvement
Positivist	
Constructivist				
Social Constructivist					
Empiricist				
Pragmatist						

In this Table, the visual representation reveals that ‘Observation’ is the common factor required for research, as agreed by all schools of thought. However, the only Constructivist supports the theoretical view along with Observation and Experiment. Whereas, Social Constructivist view supports that Observation needs a social setting. In some research, such as Action or Cultural, Social Constructivist views match Pragmatist views that Observation requires personal Involvement. In many cases, personal Involvement requires Social-settings, such as observing the lifestyle of a tribal community while living with them. Empiricists’ views support experiments and Observation but not theory.

Re-defining Different Views of Research

Observation in Academic Research

• Observation is an act of observing with careful consideration and recording a measurement. The synonyms of Observation are noticing, reflection and watching. The facts are learned by paying attention to the details of something. In a research context, ‘Something’ could be a literature review, a process, or an action done by people. This means that Observation can be used for building theories through literature review, noticing or watching an action or a process, while paying careful attention to a group of people (a group of people is a social setting) or while involved. Observation is required for
  • Qualitative & Quantitative Method
  • Inductive and Deductive Approach
  • Applied and Pure Research
  • Industrial and Academic Research
  • Conceptual and Empirical Research

 Theories in Academic Research

• Theories are tentative insights into the natural world. It is a synonym with ‘Hypothesis’. A hypothesis is a phenomenon that needs verification or an original idea that needs evidence to prove its possibility. For instance- a theory is, “Excessive consumption of Paracetamol can cause cancer.” However, this theory needs to be proven as this is just a tentative idea.

Once proven, it would say, “Excessive consumption of Paracetamol causes cancer”.

Or

If not proven, “Excessive consumption of Paracetamol does NOT cause cancer”.

Theories are built through the Observation of processes, people or literature review. As said above, in Constructivist views, all theories need testing and evidence to prove or disapprove. Experimentation is the way to test theories. Not every researcher needs to have a theory. However, most research in academia needs theory building (Inductive Approach) and further testing (Deductive Approach) through experimentation (Qualitative and Quantitative Methods). Therefore, a theory may be required for

• Experiments
• Empirical Research (Deductive Approach)
• Pure Research
• Academic Research

A theory is unnecessary for Conceptual Research as it is conducted to build a theory.

The Experiment in Academic Research

• The Experiment is conducting a controlled test or an investigation of something. Again, in a research context, ‘Something’ could be a literature review, a process, or an action done by people. An Experiment is testing an idea or an effort to do something new or different through observing and measuring. Experiments require a theory so that theory can be tested and evidenced through measurement. An Experiment may be necessary for
  • Deductive approach
  • Quantitative Method
  • Applied Research
  • Industrial Research
  • Academic Research
• In a research context, social settings conduct research by observing a group of people. Social settings mean that more than one piece of evidence should support a theory. Observing a group of individuals does not mean that a researcher observes more than one person in a closed room. It can be observing individuals through one-to-one interviews or a questionnaire. The main idea is to capture a group of people’s thinking, perception or attitude about something to measure it further to test a theory. Social settings are required in
  • Qualitative & Quantitative Method
  • Inductive and Deductive Approach
  • Applied and Pure Research
  • Industrial and Academic Research
  • Conceptual and Empirical Research

In some cases, of Social-settings requires the Involvement of the researcher.

Involvement in Academic Research

• In a research context, involvement is when the researcher observes a group activity while being a part of it rather than sitting idly and watching them. As discussed above, some research, such as action research or research for culture, demands the active Involvement of the researcher. Not just this, in a qualitative study researcher, could be actively involved in interviews and express or add his knowledge. However, any Involvement in research boosts the researcher’s (experimenter’s) bias where the researcher’s influence is high on the outcome. Experimenter’s Involvement can be in
  • Qualitative & Quantitative Method
  • Inductive and Deductive Approach
  • Applied and Pure Research
  • Industrial and Academic Research
  • Conceptual and Empirical Research

The researcher’s involvement in Conceptual Research, Pure Research, and Academic Research while building theories that support Inductive Approach can also influence the outcome in theory building.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Conceptual Research relates to building theories and supports Inductive Approach. Empirical Research supports testing theories through Observation and Experiment and compliments the Deductive Approach.

Therefore, likewise, in Inductive & Deductive and Qualitative & Quantitative, there are very few aspects of research in academia that are only Conceptual or empirical. Industrial and Applied Research uses Qualitative and Quantitative Methods and, consequently, Inductive and Deductive approaches. Moreover, theoretically, Applied Research is a form of Industrial Research, and Pure Research is a form of Academic Research. However, much of the research, such as industry-funded research in universities, combines Industrial and Pure Research.

The point here is NOT all, but most research, whether it is Conceptual or Empirical, Pure or Industrial, falls into mixed-method that uses Qualitative & Quantitative and consequently uses the mixed approach of Inductive & Deductive.

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