The logic of a traditional survey is strictly positivistic.
The evidence is frequently treated as though it were the result of measurements of a machine used in an entirely physical or life science environment.
Standard statistical techniques used for ordinal numbers are increasingly applied with no recognition of the problems of the subjectivity of the opinions.
Although surveys are still extensively used in business and management research there is an increasing feeling that they are not suitable for the collection of evidence about management issues. (Dan Remenyi et al.)
A recent example of a dissertation based on a large-scale survey was an exploration into the acceptance of an organisation’s computer strategy by its staff, by examining the level of user satisfaction with a management information systems based on end-user computing.
Some 1,500 computer users within the organisation were asked to complete a questionnaire, and approximately 300 completed forms were returned. These were analysed using a number of statistical approaches. As a result of the evidence collected it was possible to suggest ways in which the organisation could improve the implementation of its strategy.(Dan Remenyi et al.)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Participant Observer Approach
A recent example of the participant-observer approach involved research conducted into the management of design and manufacturing processes in small textile companies in central England. The student conducted research in two companies and spent some time working as an employee in these organisations.
Access was negotiated with the owner –manager of the organisations and the researcher participated as a complete participant, or a normal member of the organisation, gathering information on how the design and the production process was managed by working alongside the mainly female workforce.(Dan Remenyi et al)
Access was negotiated with the owner –manager of the organisations and the researcher participated as a complete participant, or a normal member of the organisation, gathering information on how the design and the production process was managed by working alongside the mainly female workforce.(Dan Remenyi et al)
Scenario Research
A recent example of a dissertation using scenario discussions as part of an evidence collection strategy involved the presentation of a number of viewsa a to how the market for a product might change over the next five years. Each scenario was fully debated by a group of informants and the researcher collected their evidence. Thise was then analysed in the same way as it would be in the case of in-depth interviews or focus groups.
Simulation or Stochastic Modelling
A recent example of a dissertation based on simulation involved in the building of a mathematical model which was used to describe how to optimise the logistics function of a large manufacturing firm.
Dan remenyi, Brina Williams, Arther Money, and Ethne Swartz, Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method,
Dan remenyi, Brina Williams, Arther Money, and Ethne Swartz, Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method,
Friday, January 25, 2008
IISc announces admission to Ph d programmes
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore offers admission to Research Programs (Ph.D/M.Sc.), and Integrated Ph.D Programs
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Metaphysics - Meaning
ACADEMIC METAPHYSICS
The term metaphysics originally referred to the writings of Aristotle that came after his writings on physics, in the arrangement made by Andronicus of Rhodes about three centuries after Aristotle's death.
Traditionally, metaphysics refers to the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand the fundamental nature of all reality, whether visible or invisible. It seeks a description so basic, so essentially simple, so all-inclusive that it applies to everything, whether divine or human or anything else. It attempts to tell what anything must be like in order to be at all.
To call one a metaphysician in this traditional, philosophical sense indicates nothing more than his or her interest in attempting to discover what underlies everything. Old materialists, who said that there is nothing but matter in motion, and current naturalists, who say that everything is made of lifeless, non-experiencing energy, are just as much to be classified as metaphysicians as are idealists, who maintain that there is nothing but ideas, or mind, or spirit.
Perhaps the best definition of materialism is that of Charles Hartshorne (Insights and Oversights of Great Thinkers, p. 17): "the denial that the most pervasive processes of nature involve any such psychical functions as sensing, feeling, remembering, desiring, or thinking." Idealists assert what materialists here deny.
Dualists say that mind and matter are equally real, while neutral monists claim that there is a neutral reality that can appear as either mind or matter.
Philosophers generally are content to divide reality into two halves, mind and matter (extended and unextended reality) and do not emphasize such distinctions within the mind half as spirit and soul.
POPULAR METAPHYSICS
A commonly employed, secondary, popular, usage of metaphysics includes a wide range of controversial phenomena believed by many people to exist beyond the physical.
Popular metaphysics relates to two traditionally contrasted, if not completely separable, areas,
(1) mysticism, referring to experiences of unity with the ultimate, commonly interpreted as the God who is love, and
(2) occultism, referring to the extension of knowing (extrasensory perception, including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, retrocognition, and mediumship) and doing (psychokinesis) beyond the usually recognized fields of human activity. The academic study of the occult (literally hidden) has been known as psychical research and, more recently, parapsychology. Both New Age and New Thought emphasize mysticism and its practical, pragmatic application in daily living, but New Thought discourages involvement in occultism.
The terms metaphysics and metaphysical in a popular sense have been used in connection with New Thought, Christian Science, Theosophy, and Spiritualism, as in J. Stillson Judah, The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America (The Westminster Press, 1967), as well the New Age movement, and in the name of the Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religion (see below). Some of the varying understandings of metaphysics held by some founders of New Thought and Christian Science are given in the opening pages of Contrasting Strains of Metaphysical Idealism Contributing to New Thought.
PURE AND APPLIED METAPHYSICS
Cutting across the division of the academic and the popular, there is another way of dividing metaphysics: theoretical and applied. This distinction is like the division between science and technology; one describes; the other applies the description to practical problems, putting knowledge to work. Gathering knowledge (or alleged knowledge, critics of metaphysics would say) in metaphysics traditionally is by rational thought; in a more popular understanding, knowledge gathering may be either mystical or occult; in either case the pure knowledge is to be distinguished from the practical application of it.
http://websyte.com/alan/metamul.htm
The site has number of references also.
The term metaphysics originally referred to the writings of Aristotle that came after his writings on physics, in the arrangement made by Andronicus of Rhodes about three centuries after Aristotle's death.
Traditionally, metaphysics refers to the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand the fundamental nature of all reality, whether visible or invisible. It seeks a description so basic, so essentially simple, so all-inclusive that it applies to everything, whether divine or human or anything else. It attempts to tell what anything must be like in order to be at all.
To call one a metaphysician in this traditional, philosophical sense indicates nothing more than his or her interest in attempting to discover what underlies everything. Old materialists, who said that there is nothing but matter in motion, and current naturalists, who say that everything is made of lifeless, non-experiencing energy, are just as much to be classified as metaphysicians as are idealists, who maintain that there is nothing but ideas, or mind, or spirit.
Perhaps the best definition of materialism is that of Charles Hartshorne (Insights and Oversights of Great Thinkers, p. 17): "the denial that the most pervasive processes of nature involve any such psychical functions as sensing, feeling, remembering, desiring, or thinking." Idealists assert what materialists here deny.
Dualists say that mind and matter are equally real, while neutral monists claim that there is a neutral reality that can appear as either mind or matter.
Philosophers generally are content to divide reality into two halves, mind and matter (extended and unextended reality) and do not emphasize such distinctions within the mind half as spirit and soul.
POPULAR METAPHYSICS
A commonly employed, secondary, popular, usage of metaphysics includes a wide range of controversial phenomena believed by many people to exist beyond the physical.
Popular metaphysics relates to two traditionally contrasted, if not completely separable, areas,
(1) mysticism, referring to experiences of unity with the ultimate, commonly interpreted as the God who is love, and
(2) occultism, referring to the extension of knowing (extrasensory perception, including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, retrocognition, and mediumship) and doing (psychokinesis) beyond the usually recognized fields of human activity. The academic study of the occult (literally hidden) has been known as psychical research and, more recently, parapsychology. Both New Age and New Thought emphasize mysticism and its practical, pragmatic application in daily living, but New Thought discourages involvement in occultism.
The terms metaphysics and metaphysical in a popular sense have been used in connection with New Thought, Christian Science, Theosophy, and Spiritualism, as in J. Stillson Judah, The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America (The Westminster Press, 1967), as well the New Age movement, and in the name of the Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religion (see below). Some of the varying understandings of metaphysics held by some founders of New Thought and Christian Science are given in the opening pages of Contrasting Strains of Metaphysical Idealism Contributing to New Thought.
PURE AND APPLIED METAPHYSICS
Cutting across the division of the academic and the popular, there is another way of dividing metaphysics: theoretical and applied. This distinction is like the division between science and technology; one describes; the other applies the description to practical problems, putting knowledge to work. Gathering knowledge (or alleged knowledge, critics of metaphysics would say) in metaphysics traditionally is by rational thought; in a more popular understanding, knowledge gathering may be either mystical or occult; in either case the pure knowledge is to be distinguished from the practical application of it.
http://websyte.com/alan/metamul.htm
The site has number of references also.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Creativity - Importance of Domain Knowledge
Domain knowledge features are a key prerequisite of creative productivity in the schemas offered by both Lubart and Sternberg (1995) and Cropley (1997) . There is strong evidence in the research literature indicating that a fund of domain knowledge is imperative for creative accomplishment (e.g., Simonton, 1988; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Cropley (1997) contended that providing such knowledge is one important way in which schools can foster the development of creativity. Lubart and Sternberg (1995) write that knowledge of the state of knowledge in a domain prevents attempts to reinvent the wheel. Nickerson (1999) offered the view that the importance of domain-specific knowledge in the forging of creativity is underestimated. He argued that across a wide front of domains, including the arts, mathematics, and science, acquisition of a solid knowledge base is a precursor of exemplary creativity. He wrote:
One cannot expect to make an impact in science as a consequence of new insights unless one has a thorough understanding of what is already known, or believed to be true, in a given field. The great innovators of science have invariably been thoroughly familiar with the science of their day. Serendipity is widely acknowledged to have played a significant role in many scientific discoveries; but it is also acknowledged that good fortune will be useful only to one who knows to recognize it for what it is. (p.409)
It is necessary to offer a caveat with respect to the importance of domain knowledge and it is the contention that prior knowledge could sometimes impede creative behavior. As Lubart and Sternberg (1995) pointed out, high levels of knowledge can actually stymie creativity. Dunker (1945) referred to this possibility of the problem of “functional fixedness” where one is unable to break away from normative usage of an item. Weisberg (1999) spoke of the tension between knowledge and creativity, suggesting a U-relationship between the two that acknowledges both positive and negative transfer of knowledge. Still, the fact that prior experience or knowledge could conceivably depress creativity is more a caution than an argument against domain-knowledge acquisition as a basis of expertise and creativity. Schools must provide children with the foundational knowledge supportive of creative insight.
One cannot expect to make an impact in science as a consequence of new insights unless one has a thorough understanding of what is already known, or believed to be true, in a given field. The great innovators of science have invariably been thoroughly familiar with the science of their day. Serendipity is widely acknowledged to have played a significant role in many scientific discoveries; but it is also acknowledged that good fortune will be useful only to one who knows to recognize it for what it is. (p.409)
It is necessary to offer a caveat with respect to the importance of domain knowledge and it is the contention that prior knowledge could sometimes impede creative behavior. As Lubart and Sternberg (1995) pointed out, high levels of knowledge can actually stymie creativity. Dunker (1945) referred to this possibility of the problem of “functional fixedness” where one is unable to break away from normative usage of an item. Weisberg (1999) spoke of the tension between knowledge and creativity, suggesting a U-relationship between the two that acknowledges both positive and negative transfer of knowledge. Still, the fact that prior experience or knowledge could conceivably depress creativity is more a caution than an argument against domain-knowledge acquisition as a basis of expertise and creativity. Schools must provide children with the foundational knowledge supportive of creative insight.
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