Don't Be Afraid to Play

As a newcomer to conducting research, the thought of formulating my own research question and choosing a culture of inquiry in which to conduct the research has been daunting. I stumbled across this amazing TedTalk that has completely changed my perspective. This talk is by Beau Lotto and Amy O'Toole regarding the Blackawton Bee Project and is called "Science is for everyone, kids included".  In the video, Lotto relates science to play and how not to be afraid of asking questions. He makes a profound statement in his opening minutes that summarizes the mini experiment that he runs with the audience as his opener. He states, "Perception is grounded in our experience. The brain takes meaningless info and makes meaning out of it. Which means we never see what's there, we never see information, we only ever see what was useful to see in the past" (Lotto, 2012).

Feeling a little nervous about starting research? I was... but not any more!  I highly recommend watching this video:

If the Shoe Fits...

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind introduction to the predominant cultures of inquiry including positivism, hermeneutics, phenomenology, quantitative & behavioural, comparative -historical, ethnography, action research, theoretical and critical social theory/science. Each culture of inquiry presents a unique approach to research based on its underlying epistemology, which is reflected in the relationship between the the researcher and the subject being researched. They have different concerns and goals that they are primarily focused on achieving while at the same time contributing to the creation and validation of knowledge.

Currently, my brain is going through the process of sorting these cultures of inquiry based on my personal affinity towards them. Important questions such as "which one is the best fit for me", "what level of relationship interaction am I most comfortable with", and "which one am I most drawn to" are all part of this sorting process. In trying to answer these questions, I keep coming back to a strong feeling that the best fit for me would be one that shares my personal epistemology. With that in mind, I attempted to sort the different cultures of inquiry based on what I perceived to be their position on a continuum between an objective or subjective philosophical stance on the nature of knowledge.

It's interesting to note that if I changed the continuum from the philosophical stance to that of the level of interaction between the researcher and the subject being researched, my relative positions of the cultures of inquiry remain the same. Does this imply a commonality between the two? Do all cultures of inquiry that are grounded in a subjective epistemology have a similar proportionate level of interaction with the subject being researched?

I stated in my previous post that my personal epistemology is strongly based in constructivism, with a bend towards the social end. This epistemology is firmly rooted in the subjective philosophy. If I were to choose a culture of inquiry that would best match my epistemology, I would have lots to choose from! I feel I have a natural affinity towards action research and hermeneutics... but the majority of the cultures of inquiries studied all share my personal epistemology and I would equally be grounded in all of them.  There is an old saying, "If the shoe fits... buy it in every colour".

Being Mindful in a Digital Age

"Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it" ~ Sharon Salzberg

... and that is the challenge! Mindfulness is essentially the concept of present moment awareness. Psychology Today defines it as being "a state of active, open attention on the present... living in the moment and awakening to experience". Key attributes of our attention are that it is deliberate, non-judgmental and does not try to change the experience.  I believe that this state of being is one to aspire to as a researcher regardless of the culture of inquiry being pursued. I also believe it to be essential in today's digital age.

We are living in the information age in which the access to and control of information are the defining characteristics. Our ability to access and acquire information is growing exponentially every day and knowledge has become a commodity. The overwhelming availability of information is one of the most important reasons why I believe mindfulness to be an essential skill of a researcher. The image at the start of this post highlights this need. Without mindful practice, this overload of information may lead to a loss of self, loss of perspective and/or ability to focus on what is right in front of me. What if I miss the obvious?

This leads into the second reason why mindfulness is an essential skill, which is grounded in quality control. Not only to I need the digital literacy skills to be able to sift through, sort and find relevancy within the vast amounts of available information, I also need to be able to apply the information in a productive way.

So how do I begin to do this? I am more like the person in the image with a mind full. There is no quick solution, only practice. To start, I'm going to take a deep breath... and just breathe!

*For more helpful tips on how to get started with mindful practice, see 10 Tips for Being Mindful Right Now.

References:
Mindfulness. (n.d.). Psychology today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness
[Untitled image of mindfulness]. Retrieved from http://www.transition.hw.ac.uk/mindfulness/

Importance of Understanding Personal Epistemology

Epistemology is defined as "the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity" (Merriam-Webster.com, 2015). As I begin my journey in mindful inquiry, I believe it is important to start with a clear understanding of what my personal epistemological perspective is. Why is this important? It is important because today's research methods are no longer independent of epistemology. "They reflect fundamentally different ideas of what knowledge is, what it looks like, how it is obtained, how it is validated, and what it is for" (Bentz & Shapiro, 1998, p. 33).

 As a budding researcher, I need to be consciously aware of the underlying epistemology of the different cultures of inquiry in order to utilize their methods appropriately. That also means I have a responsibility to understand my personal epistemology and its potential effects on my research. I need to "take responsibility not only for producing knowledge but for knowing why it is knowledge and defining what knowledge is and integrating it into one's self..." (Bentz & Shapiro, 1998, p.34).

So let me begin this journey of mindful inquiry with a clear statement of my personal epistemology. I am a constuctivist with a strong bend towards social constructivism. I believe that knowledge is created through the collection and dissemination of information. It is a process that is affected by the availability of information, the environment in which it is found, past and present experiences, personal beliefs/values and the societal influence of my peers. In other words, knowledge is created by what we do with the information in our environment; it does not just exist. My bend towards social constructivism can be seen in my belief that knowledge creation works best by engaging the social element, but I also believe that it can occur on an individual level through direct interaction.

References: 

Bentz, V.M. & Shapiro, J.J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. Retrieved from the    Ebscohost e-book database. 
Epistemology. (2015). In Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epistemology
Tagul. (2015). Epistemology [image]. Retrieved from https://tagul.com/show/mmwnayyrpzo3/Epistemology

The journey begins

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" ~ Albert Einstein

This blog is a guided reflection of the connections that I am making between the learning material in my Royal Roads University course "LRNT502 Introduction to Research" and my personal epistemology and professional practice. I look forward to sharing my insights, questions and thoughts with those of you who share a similar interest in exploring various cultures of inquiry and how they might relate to your life.