MIS Research Methodology Course (2)

Positivism V.S Interpretivism

What are different Philosophical schools of thought �world view�?

Interpretivism and Positivism

What is Ontology?
Ontology means �what is the reality?� Reality could be Constructionist or Realist
(objectivist)

What is difference between Constructionist and Realist Ontology?

Constructionist believes that reality is formed and shaped in the minds of people.
And this reality is different from organization to organization and from country to
country. What is right in Egypt may be not right in US.
Realist Ontology believes that there is a single reality and all people in the
world have the same reality. Therefore, it is better to use it for universal laws
and building conceptual models.

What is Epistemology?
Epistemology means the theory of getting the knowledge. Epistemology could be
Interpretivist or Empiricist. It addresses the relationship between the knower and
what is known? How do we know what we know? What counts as knowledge?

What is the difference between Interpretivist and Empiricist?

Interpretivist means that you look, observe, or listen and interpret what you see
or listen.
Empiricist means you experiment your hypothesis in an objective way to get the
knowledge.

What are different research designs?

Fixed design and Flexible design