Is there added value in using different paradigms in real estate research? Norbert Bol, 17/6/2011

2 Question 1  Is there an external and objective reality independent of our knowledge of it ?  Yes, there is an external and objective reality independent of our knowing of it  Objective Ontology  No, there is not an external and objective reality  Subjective Ontology

3 Question 2  Is it possible to have objective knowledge about reality ?  Yes, knowledge is objective, we all can acquire the same knowledge.  Objective Epistemology  No, knowledge is not objective. We all can observe facts differently because they are shaped by our prior knowledge, experiences and theories. Knowledge is fallible  Subjective Epistemology

4 Positioning three paradigms

5 Real Estate

6  There is not one definition of real estate, but there are many from different perspectives.  Keeris (2009) real estate is: physical, abstract and virtual.  Real estate houses our human activities and is: local, heterogeneous (involving a large number of disciplines), has any stakeholders and is transformational.

7 Critical realism and science  Critical Realism was introduced by Roy Bhaskar (1978)  How can we be scientific if knowledge is subjective and fallible?  A critical realist acts scientifically if there is a “systematic attempt to express in thought the structures and ways of acting of things that exist and act independently of thought” (Outhwaite, 1987:20).  We have to be critical on all assumptions even of our own  Try to find the mechanisms and the conditions under which circumstances they do or do not work.

8 Critical realism and science  No knowledge shall be based or is the outcome of privileged access or as a result of power. In that sense knowledge is a democratically negotiated social construction based on a critical examination. Knowledge is not value neutral or theory neutral.  Values and ethics should be critically examined. They can change over time.

9 Critical realism: complex reality  Positivism: flat ontology (empirical)  Critical realism: complex reality of three domains The same mechanism can produce different outcomes depending on the context and spatio-temporal relations with other objects (Sayer, 2000).

10 Critical realism and methods  There is not one method (qualitative or quantitative). Triangulation of methods as well as triangulation of data sources and researchers.  Problem is: How exactly the multiple approaches should be used does not become clear. The use of multiple approaches raises practical issues (Gilbert, 2008). Each method has its own demands.

11 Critical realism and real estate research  There is not much real estate research based on an explicit critical realist approach.  All positivist research are a good thing but: “science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house” (Poincaré, 1905).  Where does all the research lead to? Can we co-create value? Who is the customer?

12 Conclusion  Real estate is a complex phenomenon and is socially constructed as it houses our human activities. It is local, heterogeneous, has many stakeholders and is transformational. There are no general truths in real estate.  Critical realism could be a useful paradigm to research and understand the mechanisms, which can produce different outcomes depending on the situation.  Real estate research can only co-create value to the customer