The Building Blocks of Research

Ontology and epistemology are to research what ‘footings’ are to a house: they form the foundations of the whole edifice. Now, according to many, there is no need for us to worry about such footings, as this is best left to philosophers and the like, who have time to dwell on the theories of being and knowledge. I take a different view. If we are to present clear, precise and logical work, and engage and debate with others’ work, then we need to know the core assumptions that underlie their work and inform their choice of research questions, methodology, methods and even sources. Furthermore, we need to realise that we can’t chop and change between ontologies and epistemologies as we see fit, because (1) many combinations are not logical; and (2) to paraphrase Marsh and Furlong (2002), your research foundations are a skin, not a sweater to be changed every day.