METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Year:2007 | Volume:13 | Issue:52|Papers Count:8

During the past years, quantitative approach in the educational research has been dominant. In recent decades, the qualitative approach has been developed in the field of research. In addition to these two approaches, another approach can be introduced that emphasizes on using quantitative and qualitative approaches in a single study. The purpose of this paper is to explain quantitative and qualitative approaches and emphasize the utilization of a mixed approach in educational research. In this way, after the introduction, quantitative and qualitative approaches and their paradigms are explained. Then, fundamental components of quantitative approach are compared with those of qualitative approach. Finally, the mixed approach, which is more strongly emphasized is this paper, is discussed.

Social science research is traditionally derived from natural sciences, in a way that the reliability of the results is determined by following the natural science methods. Such research has been named as quantitative, scientific, and objective. In recent decades, a new paradigm was successfully introduced to social science research that has been named as qualitative, naturalist, and subjective.Reflecting on the human nature, the author believes that such analysis should deploy a mixture of the two methods to result in a better understanding of such issues, from different perspectives. This is called the triangulation method.In this article, the definition of triangulation method, its applicability in analysis of social science issues, its advantages and disadvantages, and its importance in social science research have been studied.

The author suggests that the idea of the substitution of the quantitative methods by qualitative methods is based on three assumptions: First, the view that the qualitative and quantitative methods are against each other.Second, the qualitative methods are superior to quantitative methods. Third, only qualitative research may be used to solve complex problems in social sciences. In this article, the author criticizes the three assumptions, introduces exploratory and confirmatory approaches in quantitative research, and suggests the use of confirmatory method in quantitative research.Finally, the author advocates the use of integrative method and discusses its philosophical foundation.

This article discusses the focus groups as a useful method in qualitative research. Focus groups are less discussed in research sources, while they have many applications in qualitative researches. In this article, the origin, history, definition, and application of the focus groups are studied. Also, the method of participant selection, the size and count of groups, method of questioning, survey size, survey type, moderator specifications, collecting and analyzing data in focus groups are discussed.

Two main ways of analysis in behavioral science include quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative research is based on positivism paradigm, which is after universal explanations. Its main aim is the objective evaluation of the society, testing the hypotheses, human behavior prediction and control. In contrast, qualitative paradigm is rooted in phenomenological approach and is individualist. Thus, it is naturalist and its main objective is to understand the social life and the meaning that people attribute to their daily lives. In this article, the philosophical base of research is studied and the axioms of the two paradigms, positivism and phenomenology, in research have been analyzed.

One of the core discussions in philosophy of social science is the dispute of holism and individualism. In this article, the recent issues of debate among Iranian thinkers are studied. Also, a definition of individualism and holism and an explanation of the importance of the issue are provided. Then, three arguments with respect to individualism are studied. The arguments include the ontological argument, epistemological argument, and linguistic argument. Under linguistic argument, a brief introduction to individualism or holism use of the terms in classic Iranian literature is provided.Individualism today is not like the unrefined 19thcentury individualism among philosophers and thinkers. Thus, the exceptions imposed by modem individualists on the fundamentals of individualism are discussed in the next section. These exceptions are named as: 1. categorization of explanation levels 2. the issue of anonymous individuals 3. the emergent properties and 4. the exceptions. Finally, the rule of supervenience is mentioned as a possible solution to dispute of holists and individualists.Throughout the document, the views of John Watkins, one of the most popular contemporary individualist philosophers, are pointed to and occasionally criticized based on the opinion of holists.

The purpose of this article is to study the possible relation of the philosophical definition of holism with the activities of futurists. The concern of futurists such as Wendell Bell-a well known writer of philosophy of futurism-motivated this study.Thus, first a thorough philosophical definition of holism and its different kinds are provided. Then, an analytical review of the Fundamentals of Futurism by Wendell Bell is provided.Then, it is attempted to answer the question: How can holist futurism be scientific? Finally, it is depicted that holism is a necessity of a scientific theoretical body in futurism.