Sample Abstract
Author 1 (Name)
Affiliation ( )
Author 1 (Name)
Affiliation ( )
Supervisor name
Affiliations
Topic
(Times New Roman 16 Points Centralized)
Purpose: The study is based on applied research in the area of (Karachi/Pakistan) in order to
explore effect of Pricing on consumer buying behavior. Although there are several studies
associated with the topic but the paper is unique as it is (based upon data from developing market
of Pakistan where there is a severe lacking of these type of studies, Data has been collected
through secondary authentic sources and indicate effect of financial services on which there is a
sever lack etc).
Significance: Therefore, it is legitimate to consider the study as one of the pervasive in nature as
the study is potent in increase of knowledge in the area of business as well as academia.
Limitations and Scope: Although the study is supplemented with some limitation as the data
collected from developing country like Pakistan is not coherent with the other economies
although the value of paper has not been overshadowed and this can be used for applicative
reasoning.
Sample Size: The sample size for the study is of ____and _____ software has been used for the
purpose of data analysis and the major reason for the application of the software is theory
building approach associated with the study. Although the paper is supported by descriptive as
well as inferential analysis in order to make findings of the study potent and reliable enough.
The use of the software indicated that there is a relationship between major IVs (use name) and
Dvs of the study (use names) and thus the result is prevalent in identifying the relationship
between the variables (use name of IVs and Dvs)
Key Words: Write Few Key Words associated with the study i.e. name of Variables etc.
Understanding philosophy is important because social science
research can only be meaningfully interpreted when there is clarity
about the decisions that were taken that affect the research outcomes.
Some of these decisions are based, not always knowingly, on some key
philosophical principles, as outlined in the figure below.
Philosophy provides the general principles of theoretical thinking, a
method of cognition, perspective and self-awareness, all of which are
used to obtain knowledge of reality and to design, conduct, analyse
and interpret research and its outcomes. The figure below shows three
main branches of philosophy that are important in the sciences and
serves to illustrate the differences between them.
Social science research guide consisting of ontology, epistemology, and philosophical
perspectives. When read from left to right, elements take on a more multidimensional nature (eg.,
epistemology: objectivism to subjectivism). The elements within each branch are positioned
according to their congruence with elements from other branches so when read from top to
bottom (or bottom to top), elements from one branch align with elements from another (eg.,
critical realist ontology, constructionist epistemology, and interpretivist philosophical
perspectives). Subcategories of elements (ie., 3.5a–c and 3.6a–c) are to be interpreted as
positioned under the parent category (ie., 3.5 interpretivism and 3.6 critical theory).
(Source: Moon and Blackman 2014)
Ontology
The first branch is ontology, or the ‘study of being’, which is concerned
with what actually exists in the world about which humans can acquire
knowledge. Ontology helps researchers recognize how certain they can
be about the nature and existence of objects they are researching. For
instance, what ‘truth claims’ can a researcher make about reality? Who
decides the legitimacy of what is ‘real’? How do researchers deal with
different and conflicting ideas of reality?
To illustrate, realist ontology relates to the existence of one single
reality which can be studied, understood and experienced as a ‘truth’;
a real world exists independent of human experience. Meanwhile,
relativist ontology is based on the philosophy that reality is
constructed within the human mind, such that no one ‘true’ reality
exists. Instead, reality is ‘relative’ according to how individuals
experience it at any given time and place.
Epistemology
The second branch is epistemology, the ‘study of knowledge’.
Epistemology is concerned with all aspects of the validity, scope and
methods of acquiring knowledge, such as a) what constitutes a
knowledge claim; b) how can knowledge be acquired or produced; and
c) how the extent of its transferability can be assessed. Epistemology is
important because it influences how researchers frame their research
in their attempts to discover knowledge.
By looking at the relationship between a subject and an object we can
explore the idea of epistemology and how it influences research
design. Objectivist epistemology assumes that reality exists outside, or
independently, of the individual mind. Objectivist research is useful in
providing reliability (consistency of results obtained) and external
validity (applicability of the results to other contexts).
Constructionist epistemology rejects the idea that objective ‘truth’
exists and is waiting to be discovered. Instead, ‘truth’, or meaning,
arises in and out of our engagement with the realities in our world.
That is, a ‘real world’ does not preexist independently of human
activity or symbolic language. The value of constructionist research is
in generating contextual understandings of a defined topic or problem.
Subjectivist epistemology relates to the idea that reality can be
expressed in a range of symbol and language systems, and is stretched
and shaped to fit the purposes of individuals such that people impose
meaning on the world and interpret it in a way that makes sense to
them. For example, a scuba diver might interpret a shadow in the
water according to whether they were alerted to a shark in the area
(the shark), waiting for a boat (the boat), or expecting a change in the
weather (clouds). The value of subjectivist research is in revealing how
an individual’s experience shapes their perception of the world.
Philosophical perspectives
Stemming from ontology (what exists for people to know about) and
epistemology (how knowledge is created and what is possible to know)
are philosophical perspectives, a system of generalized views of the
world, which form beliefs that guide action.
Philosophical perspectives are important because, when made explicit,
they reveal the assumptions that researchers are making about their
research, leading to choices that are applied to the purpose, design,
methodology and methods of the research, as well as to data analysis
and interpretation. At the most basic level, the mere choice of what to
study in the sciences imposes values on one’s subject.
Conclusion
Understanding the philosophical basis of science is critical in ensuring
that research outcomes are appropriately and meaningfully
interpreted. With an increase in interdisciplinary research, an
examination of the points of difference and intersection between the
philosophical approaches can generate critical reflection and debate
about what we can know, what we can learn and how this knowledge
can affect the conduct of science and the consequent decisions and
actions.
How does your philosophical standpoint affect your research? What
are your experiences of clashing philosophical perspectives in
interdisciplinary research? How did you become aware of them and
resolve them? Do you think that researchers need to recognize
different philosophies in interdisciplinary research teams?
To find out more:
Moon, K., and Blackman, D. (2014). A Guide to Understanding Social
Science Research for Natural Scientists. Conservation Biology, 28:
1167-1177.
Online: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12326/full
