Edward M. Erasmus, MA University of Aruba March 8, 2012

Have a conversation about… • Science • Portrayal of science in our modern society • My perception of science: then… • My view on science: now…. • Implication for my approach to social-scientific

research • Some after-thoughts

Let’s do some brain exercises….

Can you form a NEW triangle that points down?

Tricky Coin Triangle Puzzle

You can only move THREE of the pennies to do so

Find the man in the coffee beans

Find the 9 hidden people/faces in the picture

NEO: This isn't real? MORPHEUS: What is real? How do you define real? If you’re talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you’re talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain [...] You have been living inside a dreamworld, Neo. As in Baudrillard’s vision, your whole life has been spent inside the map, not the territory [...] -THE MATRIX (1999)

All research is based on assumptions about how we perceive the world and how we can best come to understand it. Nobody really knows how we can best understand the

world.

Philosophers have been arguing about that very question for a little more than two millennia now….

Science and research

the systematic observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts…. Source: Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology

What is science?

the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment… Source: Oxford Dictionaries

What is science?

Portrayal of science and scientists in our modern world….

What is science?

What is science?

What is science?

Famous scientists….

Frequently mentioned by adults my age...

Frequently mentioned by kids….

Frequently mentioned by youngsters

Mentioned by all ages…

How about this guy?...

How about this lady?...

Is this a research area?....

How about this?....

Many of us in the Western (pop) culture have been brought up with a somewhat popular view of science, or at least a fairly eminent view of science, as it should be done…..

Science….

But is science really an independent, detached and objective activity performed by highly developed intellectuals (super humans)?

Science…

Science under scrutiny….

Global warming debate (1990’s – to date)

Vaccination-autism hoax (2011)

Financial Crisis (2008)

BP oil spill (2010)

Fallacies in leadership and management theories… (1980’s – today)

“To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail.” - Abraham H. Maslow

My view of science…. Then…..

I have carried the idea that science (both natural and social) is driven by a certain type of objective ‘scientific method’. I think the origin of this conception of science has

been influenced by many factors in my life. Although difficult to pinpoint and reflect on all of them, I think my view of science was formed (and was maintained) by the following: my educational background, my work relationship with academic colleagues and the commercial media.

My view of science….. Then….

I was taught that the system of acquiring knowledge should be completely objective and rational (i.e. through statistics and surveys). Focus on methods (and much less on

methodology) Analyze and seek to find rational solutions based

on figures. The idea that human thoughts and behavior are

controllable and predictable.

Educational background (finance and accounting)

Academics often try to portray their opinions (during meetings, through reports and memo’s, and so) to be derived from objective and coherent considerations of facts. Most of the times their points of view are not

questioned by others, as they fear to contradict the objectivist status of these academics.

Work relationship with academics

Jean Baudrillard: era of ‘hyperreality’

Our perception of reality is being dictated by conceptual models presented through the media. Science is promoted as an objectivist instrument. Increasing amount of authors who use the media to market

their scientific ideas on a mass scale. The ‘pop era’ that initiated in the 1980s, which was a period

that yielded a lot of functionalist works. ‘Scientific’ works with so-called ‘how-to’-approaches that

provided executives ‘quick-fix’ are easier to sell.

Commercial media

Commercial media

Commercial media

Commercial media

Dominant view about science (paradigm)

Science is based on the notion of ‘objectivity’ (= refers to the view that the truth of a thing is independent from the observing subject). Assumption that there is order and laws in the cosmos

that reason can discover in order to represent and control nature and social conditions. Assumptions are applicable to both natural and social

sciences…..

Dominant view about science

This paradigm of modernist assertions about the existence of truth claims that stem from the European Enlightenment of the 18th century. The Enlightenment was about rationality; it was the ‘Age of reason’.

Reason, rationality and science began to take over from religion to tell the truth about the world. Science could provide laws, i.e. unquestionable truths about the world,

such as Newton and his law of gravity. Out of this came the idea of the ‘modern project’ towards progress. The world is progressing towards better things, such as the industrial

revolution and medicine. Science and technology will solve all the problems of society. Throughout the 20th century and still today this project has been followed. Normative discourse (Deetz, 1996)

But there’s another side to the story…… …. Actually….there are more sides to the story……

Academic study in Organization, Culture and Management. Anthropological approach to understand organizations

and the social world around them. Confrontational/contradictory views of science. Complete paradigm shift……

Another view on science?

How do we know? What is knowing? Is science objective? Is everything reducible to physics and mathematics? Is everything reducible to a few rules? Should science serve society or should society serve

science?

Key science questions…

“At the simplest level, only people who know they do not know everything will be curious enough to find things out.”

-- Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies, p.88 [The Free Press, 1998]

Different scholars argue that when it comes to social science, different philosophical orientations may be applied. And there’s when the Science Wars started….

‘As academic students we find ourselves tangled in ‘paradigmatic barbwires’ located in the battlefields of these so-called ‘Science Wars’ and there seems to be no easy way out.’ (Edward Erasmus, 2001)

Another view on science?

When it comes to social science, different philosophical orientations may be distinguished: Functionalist, Interpretive, Radical humanist, and

radical structuralist (Burrell & Morgan, 1979) Modern, symbolic, critical and postmodern (Hatch,

1997) Normative, Interpretive, Critical and Dialogic

(Deetz, 1996)

Another view on science?

So what difference does it make?..... From a philosophical standpoint: each dimension

or paradigm provide a different understanding of ontology (what is knowing?) and epistemology (how do we know?); Consequently…. How do we engage and conduct

research?

Another view on science?

Different paradigms – different ontology

OBJECTIVISM SUBJECTIVISM POST-MODERNISM Ontology (the study of the assumptions on the nature of reality).

“…the social world external to individual cognition is a real world made up of hard, tangible and relatively immutable structures” (Burrel and Morgan, 1979, p. 4)

The truth of some class of statements depends on the mental state or reactions of the person making the statement. “…the social world external to individual cognition is made up of nothing more than names, concepts and labels which are used to structure reality” (Burrel and Morgan, 1979, p. 4).

There is no such thing as universal truth or standard. Jean-Francois Lyotard defines postmodernism as “incredulity towards metanarratives” (Fields, 1995, p. 5). Lyotard argues that “there are no metanarratives that define reality or history for all people at all times” (Okholm, 1999, p. 3). The postmodernists see such assumption as oppressive. Instead, society should celebrate centerlessness, diversity and choice.

Different paradigms – different epistemology

OBJECTIVISM SUBJECTIVISM POST-MODERNISM Epistemology (the study of ordinary knowledge in everyday life).

characterized by explaining and predicting the occurrences in the social world “by searching for regularities and causal relationships between its constituent elements” (Burrel and Morgan, 1979, p. 1).

knowledge is restricted to one’s own perceptions. The epistemological stance in subjectivism is labeled by Burrel and Morgan (1979, p. 5) as ‘anti-positivism’ and is “firmly set against the utility of a search for laws or underlying regularities in the world of social affairs”. The social world from the view of the anti-positivist is fundamentally relativistic and it can only be understood from the perspective of those who are participants in the activities that are being researched.

“any attempt at universal knowledge or a theory of historical evolution is illegitimate, as there is no overall meaning to social life that could render coherent historical progress. Rather social science should investigate, and indeed celebrate, diversity, as different eras and social groups develop distinctive types of knowledge.” (Tucker, 1998, p. 131)

Different paradigms – different approach to research

OBJECTIVISM SUBJECTIVISM POST-MODERNISM Approach to scientific research

Science (both natural and social) is driven by a certain type of objective ‘scientific method’. Ignores human values, needs, motives, history, and cultural context in (social) research. Only testable statements are relevant.

The study of “self-reflecting humans” (Flyvbjerg, 2001, p. 32). The belief in a socially constructed, subjectively-based reality, one that is influenced by culture and history. Focus on meaning. Knowledge cannot be severed from the social context in which it originates.

Postmodernism is in essence ‘anti-methodological’ (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000, p. 184). Postmodernism favors the way of looking at the world in which “plurality of voices cry out for their version of reality” (Fields, 1995, p.). In doing research this approach would imply that everyone has an equal voice and, more importantly, all voices are considered equally valid.

So in essence….. Your philosophical position/assumptions dictate how you view the world and how you can best attempt to understand it through scientific research…. In scientific research: you are required to expose your methodological assumptions (=philosophical beliefs).

Another view on science?

Unlearn and learn again…. How to conduct research. During the course of my study I conducted research

using different paradigmatic positions. Started to explore the differences in outcomes. Started to understand the differences…and

similarities…. Learn to view the world from different perspectives. Paradigm incommensurability (Burrell & Morgan,

1979) bothered me a lot.

So what now?....

Paradigms have different world view. It is impossible to compare them. Not desirable to combine paradigms while conducting

research.

Paradigm incommensurability

Deetz (1996) provided the answer…

According to Deetz (1996), new dimensions of contrast between paradigms need to be defined that correspond to the reasons for conflict between paradigms in the 1990s. Deetz suggests a new grid for classifying worldviews

for research without defining new paradigms.

Deetz (1996) provided the answer…

In Deetz’s view: Paradigms or worldviews themselves are produced

and reproduced through discursive practices and can shift partially in their meaning over time. Paradigm assumptions and boundaries are somewhat

blurred or ill-defined, and individuals may implicitly or explicitly “buy into or borrow” aspects from several paradigms forming “hybrid” thinking.

Deetz (1996) provided the answer…

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

My personal point of view: Conduct research using different paradigms. Discover what it means by experiencing it….. Don’t compromise with one position… Multiple perspectives provide new

understandings of the social world… Hybrid-thinking is the key!!

Designing a new approach to scientific study

Over the years I developed my own method for research…. Does not mean yours have to be the same…..

One thing is certain: I no longer believe in such thing

as an ‘objective’ scientific method.

Designing a new approach to scientific study

My approach is positioned in a hybrid research model consisting of elements of the interpretive and the dialogic discourse of Deetz (1996). I believe that research can be best approached by aiming to understand the social world through firsthand experience of the social actors themselves, and through my own immersion in the phenomena being explored. My methodological position therefore considers meaning and knowledge as being emergent and recursiveness, continuance and change are considered as fundamental attributes and opportunities in my exploration, my ‘reality’ construction, and in my personal learning. In the research I use the reflexive dialogue in a multi-layered way, placing my focus towards a consideration of a variety of analytical frames and perspectives.

Designing a new approach to scientific study

‘Research is a personal, political, and social process.’ - Reason & Marshall, 2001

Emphasis on qualitative methods for data collection An open-ended, emergent design Grounded (inductive) generalizations/theory Sensemaking as primary focus Reflexivity Multivocality in reporting through multiperspective analysis Textual voices in reporting Contextuality

Implications for my approach to research

When Rafikki meets the now grown Simba, he smacks Simba on the head with a stick. Simba, after shaking it off says, “What’d you do that for”. Rafikki replies, “Doesn’t matter - it was in the past!”. Rafikki swings again. Simba ducks. Rafikki says, “...but you learned.” - From The Lion King, Walt Disney Pictures, 1994

Things I have learned and still experience in every day professional life: Management and organizational thinking in Aruba are

profoundly dominated by the rationalistic (normative) paradigm. Other paradigms are still heavily questioned by different

schools of science. Context plays a pivotal role in interpreting the research

findings. Reality is layered and multiple…. Accept that. There are facts and things, but also visions and thoughts.

Some after thoughts

You can look at reality in many ways. And if you do it in a way that is somewhat unusual for you, you see new things. And all the lines of approach together often turn up

a complex picture, but also generate a better understanding of the social world….

Some after thoughts

“To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail.” - Abraham H. Maslow

Edward M. Erasmus, MA e.erasmus@fzanv.com erasmus.bpas@gmail.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/edwardmerasmus Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/em_erasmus LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardmerasmus

QUESTIONS???