Empiricism may be viewed as the means of acquiring knowledge through sensory experience (Sultan, 2019). Empiricism assumes, as Moustakas (1990) noted, some level of a cause-and-effect relationship between independent and dependent variables. Riffing off of Sultan’s (2019) description of heuristic inquiry, empirical research is a means for exploring questions and making sense of the world. The value I see in acquiring knowledge through sensory experience (empirically via testing and measurement) is that it provides an opportunity, invitation, and framework through which one might begin to explore and make sense of one’s world.
Empiricism, however, is not my end-all and be-all for scientific research. I recognize three dominant biases which drive my view:
- Like Moustakas (1990), Sultan (2019), and Brock (2015, October 15), I believe that no research conducted by a human being is objective, because the human being cannot be separated from that which they research or observe.
- As a Buddhist, I also believe that everything is interconnected, empty, and interdependently arising (Nālandā Translation, n.d.). Nothing exists in isolation. Therefore, there is no single truth that can be found in a part of the whole. Rather, the whole is greater than the sum of its (empirically dehumanized) parts.
- From my lived/living experience, I know that there are other ways of knowing. While empiricism relies on sensory experience, it tends to exclude experiences that can not be objectively and independently tested and measured (Sultan, 2019): subjectivity and the ephemeral do not seem to be welcome at an empiricist’s table but are welcome at mine.
One’s choice of research question, and hence one’s choice of research methodology, is shaped by the values and beliefs one holds (Sultan, 2019). Similarly, each methodology is grounded within its creator’s values, beliefs, and philosophical assumptions. We learn about theory before conducting our own research to ensure our own alignment with our chosen methodologies at ontological and epistemological levels, etc. The strength of one’s alignment with a theory behind a methodology may help enhance the rigor of one’s research, both through the selection of the paradigm embraced and through the way the researcher brings that paradigm to life through their research method and actions. Theory, as Sultan (2019) puts it, helps us formulate and negotiate best practices for our research.
I happen to believe that everything is subjective and interconnected, and that includes how we gain knowledge. I gain knowledge through myriad facets and portals of lived experience, from the mundane to the mystic and the tacit to the explicit, and know that I create my own meaning. While I might like to believe that my knowledge is created in the vacuum of myself, my view of the interconnected nature of existence makes me more of a social constructivist.
References
Brock, R. (2015, October 15). Importance of tacit knowledge in education. TEDx Cambridge University [Video] YouTube. https://youtu.be/Hkd-1zc_Gn4
Moustakas, C. (1990). Research design and methodology. In Heuristic research: Design, methodology, and applications (pp. 38-40). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641
Nālandā Translation. (n.d.). The sutra of the heart of transcendent knowledge. https://www.nalandatranslation.org/offerings/notes-on-the-daily-chants/commentaries/the-sutra-of-the-heart-of-transcendent-knowledge/
Sultan, N. (2019). Philosophical and theoretical foundations of heuristic inquiry. In Heuristic inquiry: Researching human experience holistically (pp. 41-77). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802632
