1. Interpretive Research Designs
Ali Djamhuri

2. Philosophical Questions Distinguishing Paradigms and the Issue of Subjective-objective Dimension
Realism
Nominalism
Ontology
Positivism
Anti-positivism
Epistemology
Determinism
Voluntarism
Human Nature
Nomothetic
Ideographic
Methodology
Source: Burrell & Morgan, 1979, 3)

3. Ontology Nominalism Realism
Social world external to individual cognition is nothing more than names, concepts and labels that are used to structure reality
The concepts, names, and labels are artificial creations and their utility based on convenience as tool for describing, making sense, and negotiating external world
Social world external to individual cognition is a real world made up of hard, tangible, and relatively immutable structure. They still exist as empirical entities
The social world exists independently of an individual’s appreciation of it. Reality is out there and is not man made creation, but as given (as is)

4. Epistemology Anti-positivism Positivism
Social world is relativistic and can be understood only by the point of view of the individuals who are directly involved in the activities which are to be studied
Social science is basically subjective
Anti-positivist reject objectivity in social science
Understanding of social world can be performed by observer
social science orientation is to explain, predict, and to control performed by identifying regularities and causal relationship
Positivistic social science emphasizes objectivy such as by avoiding bias and the use of personal language

5. Human Nature Voluntarism Determinism
Humankind and their activities are completely authonomous and having free will
Most human activities are internally driven by human free will or by meanings owned about their activities
Human activities are not predictable, but stillunderstandable
Humankind and their activities are being completely determined by the situation or environment where they are located
Most human activities are externally driven by stimulus.Human activities are just responses to stimulus
Human activities are predictable or even programmable

6. Methodology (Axiology)
Ideographic
Nomothetic
Closeness to the social world is the key to understand it.
Social theory is subjective accounts generated from insider’s interpretation
Emphasizing process, interactions and the importance of natural setting
Narrative and story telling is viewed as effective tool to report or transmit such accounts
Empasizing on the importance of rigid, systematic protocols (procedures, techniques)
Scientific rigor is placed upon its rigidity of procedures (quantification, testing and others)
Hypothesis testing model dominates inquiries

7. Four Paradigms for the Analysis of Social Theory (Burrell & Morgan, 1979,22)
The Sociology of Radical Change
Radical
Humanist
Radical
Structuralist
Objective
Subjective
Interptretive
Functionalist
The Sociology of Regulation

8. Continuity Implications in Burrell and Morgan’s Model of Paradigm Categorization
The number of paradigms is extremely limitless
It is possible to create new sociological paradigm
Even within a certain paradigm, there are various reserach approaches distinguihed based on their magnitude of subjectivity-objectivity polarity or change-stability polarity

9. Interpretive Paradigm
The Sociology of Radical Change
Radical
Humanist
Radical
Structuralist
Objective
Subjective
Interptretive
Functionalist
The Sociology of Regulation

10. Interpretive (Anti-Positive Paradigm)
Grounded Theory
Hermeneutics
Ethnography
Transcendental Phenomenology
Existential Phenomenology
Ethnomethodology
Phenomenology Symbolic Interactionism

11. Existential Phenomenology (Heidegger,Schutz)
Instead of concern to transcendental consciousness (see transcendental phenomenology), existential phenomenology go to “life-world” (more on surface and more sociological)
Getting the meaning of human actions or phenomena through epoche or bracketting, that is examining phenomena as they are originally given to consciousness(Husserl)

12. Transcendental Phenomenology (Husserlian or Everyday Life Phenomenology)
Science is characterized by intentionality ...fully subjective
Phenomenology is created to build “strong objective foundation” of science
Orientating to answer the central question of meaning by going out from facts to the phenomenon (structure of experience) by bracketting the facts

13. Phenomenology Symbolic Interactionism
Human actions are based on their own meaning
Reality (meaning) is costructed through human (social) interaction, a negotiated result among competing themes, definitions or interpretations
Reality (meaning) is changing
Less subjective in viewing the social world (reality) compared to ethnomethodology

14. Hermeneutics (Dilthey)
Ontologically adopting objective-idealist view
Hermeneutics is essentially a methodology for studying the objectification of mind
The reality should be studied as text and in detail to reveal their essential meaning and significance
Social world should be studied in their total context, they may have different meaning in the other context

15. Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel)
Studying social daily life in detail, specifically praactical activities,practical circumstances and practical sociological reasoning
Specific attention is usually given to extra ordinary event of an ordered situation to understand how the insiders of the culture interpret and treat such extra ordinary
The purpose is to provide adequate accounts, adequate descriptions, and adequate evidence about daily life that may contain awesome indexicalities

16. Tips
Find the language (terms, principle, key concepts ) of any design chosen
Suit it with subject matter researched
Be consistent in teh design chosen by following relevant methodological steps in the design
Report the work in the language of the chosen design