In this paper we explore a new ontological foundation for ecopsychology research. Central to ecopsychology is the idea of the ecological self – the human self as a deeply interconnected part of wider nature (Naess, 1986/1995). The positivist methods which dominate the biomedical and natural sciences have no way of studying this interconnected self. Despite this, there is a risk that fears about...

Researchers have identified several problems with the Grounded Theory Method, which include fundamental concerns about its ontological foundations and epistemological stance. Many IS researchers consider such issues unproblematic or are unaware of them. This situation is compounded by the fact it is employed selectively as part of positivist, post-positivist or interpretivist research approache...

This article maps out research in professional education with reference to a threefold typology of paradigms, i.e. the positivist, interpretivist and critical paradigms. The rationale for such an endeavour is fourfold. First, it directs attention to the neglected territory of methodology which is essential for researcher reflexivity. Second, it shows that most research in social work education ...

Action research is particularly valuable for its ability to inform theory while making a practical difference. Special issues of MISQ in 2004 and Information Technology and People in 2001 called attention both to action research and research methodology. Yet action research is not widely disseminated across the information systems discipline. The purpose of this tutorial is to advance informati...

The post-positivist domination of planning theory in recent years has rightly highlighted the social and political context of theories. Its impact through various guises including collaborative, postmodern and neo-pragmatic approaches has been significant. However, one area that has been immune to these broad changes and interpretations is typologies of planning. Typologies provide heuristics f...

This paper examines the relationship between visual design and information systems (IS) design and describes how IS theory and practice has viewed visual design (an aesthetic discipline) from a positivist perspective. First, we present a rationale for the current view of aesthetics from the positivistic IS discipline. After tracing the philosophical development of aesthetics and its associated ...

BACKGROUND Clinical decision making is a fundamental aspect of nurses' clinical practice and has a direct impact on the health and well-being of each patient. METHOD An exploratory analysis of the concept of clinical decision making in nursing will be provided from the two predominant theoretical perspectives: the systematic-positivist model and the intuitive-humanistic model. The origin, aim...

2 School of Management Information Systems, Deakin University, Australia. E-mail: [email protected] . ABSTRACT: The progressive evolution of the global information society has escalated the debate over effective ways to facilitate relevance in information systems research without sacrificing rigor. Accommodation of interpretivist research methodologies has been suggested to address this prob...

The progress of the social science disciplines depends on conducting relevant research. However, research methodology adopted and choices made during the course of the research project are underpinned by varying ontological, epistemological and axiological positions that may be known or unknown to the researcher. This paper sought to critically explore the philosophical underpinnings of the soc...

Attention to epistemology, theory use and citation practices are all issues which distinguish academic disciplines from other ways of knowing. The paper uses examples from construction research to outline and reflect on these issues. In doing so, the discussion provides an introduction to some key issues in social research as well as a reflection on the current state of construction research as...