The pragmatic researcher
My approach to research is pragmatic.
Pragmatic researchers make decisions relative to their research problem, aims, and questions, rather than consistently and rigidly applying the same methods and theoretical rules project after project (Denscombe, 2010; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010).
Research methods are viewed as options to be weighed up, evaluated, and selected based on their ability to produce the most useful and informative findings. No specific method is considered superior and so pragmatists often conduct multiple mixed-method studies to answer their research questions (Denscombe, 2010).
Social researchers can tend to be polarised when it comes to the nature of reality. But pragmatist researchers can hold social reality to be both discoverable and socially constructed, social knowledge to be provisional, and dualism to be counterproductive (Denscombe, 2010).
This is not to suggest, however, that issues of epistemology are irrelevant for pragmatic researchers. Rather, appropriate theoretical and methodological decisions are made in light of the research aims and questions (Denscombe, 2010; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010). This means that pragmatist research, to be considered trustworthy, should provide explicit descriptions of the theory underpinning various phases of the overall project.
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Notes
This post has been paraphrased from my PhD thesis:
The featured image is by Deng Xiang.
References
Denscombe, M. (2010). Philosophy. In Ground Rules for Social Research (2nd ed., pp. 116-138). Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2010). Current Developments and Emerging Trends in Integrated Research Methodology. In SAGE Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioral Research (2nd ed., pp. 803–826). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.