Research philosophies

Abstract

A research philosophy is a set of basic beliefs that guide the design and execution of a research study, and different research philosophies offer different ways of understanding scientific research. Qualitative research uses textual, audio, or visual data to understand the way that people experience a phenomenon and to understand the meanings that people attribute to their experiences. Research philosophies represent ‘a worldview that defines, for its holder, the nature of the “world,” the individual’s place in it, and the range of possible relationships to that world and its parts’. Post-positivism is the predominant philosophical position in which most researchers in sport and exercise psychology situate their studies. Research conducted from a constructivist philosophical position focuses on understanding the meanings people create for themselves and attribute to their experience. The notion of a subjective and transactional epistemology underlies the concept of co-constructing knowledge or meaning within qualitative research.

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