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Academic Paper from the year 2023 in the subject Communications - Research, Studies, Enquiries, grade: 3.0, , course: Advanced Research Methods, language: English, abstract: Epistemology is a philosophical study of knowledge and what knowledge is, how it can be gained and proved to be certain, reasonable and acceptable. Since research is one way of gaining knowledge; understanding how epistemology and research interlinked are so decisive for conducting better quality research. Identifying the perspective of the study contributes much to the coherence to rationale of the study. This article therefore aimed at examining the definitions and meanings of epistemology; its contributions in facilitating research methodology, methods and strategies.
To this end different literatures and articles on epistemology were assessed. Thorough examinations were made on how different authors defined and elaborated the definitions and meanings of epistemology. The interface of research methodology and epistemology were analyzed. The main epistemological approaches are keenly scrutinized to identify which particular paradigm is more common and repeatedly acknowledged by many writers.
It is observed that giving brief epistemological philosophy up on which a given research stands/followed has paramount importance both to the researcher/writer and the reader. From the very onset; epistemology guides and informs the world view/ perspective of the researcher and therefore, the research paper. This makes the readers to adjust their views accordingly in order to better comprehend the core messages of the researcher. It is also helpful in how to consider and use the findings of the study. However since there are list of different approaches or component elements of epistemology; it sometimes raise confusion and difficulty to easily grasp the subject matter of epistemology. Because these paradigms are so much interrelated in a complex ways to the degree where they seem to be one and the same. For instance the difference between positivism and objectivism, relativism and subjectivism, constructivism and interpretivism is insignificant to many researchers, particularly to the novice ones. Again, though epistemology tries to explain what knowledge is, how it can be acquired, justified, and what sources of reliable knowledge are; so far no unanimous agreement and conviction among the scholars in the field.
