ABSTRACT
At the heart of the research process lies a complex interplay of choices and decisions which mould the nature and direction of research. Thus, many of the fundamental challenges facing the social science researcher relate to the core activity of decision-making and the justification of the strategy and method(s) adopted (Crotty 1998: 2). Studying the theory and philosophical foundations of social science research reveals that ‘different research . . . methods are not just responses to different research needs but also embody quite different ontological and epistemological perspectives’ (Arksey and Knight 1999: 15). Denzin and Lincoln (2000: 19-22) articulate this, outlining how the final choice of research strategy and method should be seen as a culmination of issues at the level of the researcher and the research paradigm, the latter involving the interconnected issues of ‘ontology (. . . What is the nature of reality?), epistemology (What is the relationship between the inquirer and the known?), and methodology (How can we know the world, or gain knowledge of it?)’.
