PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION

Else where in this course, you have studied to the fact that the qualitative methods treat human
mind, especially the mental insights and impressionistic view as the major means of generating knowledge. They are employed for inquires in different fields such as Philosophy, History, Social Anthropology, Field Psychology , cortex specific problems, prognosis and diagnosis of problem cases etc. you have seen that, the last unit dealt with some qualitative research methods. In this unit, you will continue with other qualitative research methods like Philosophical and Historical research methods, and may continue in the next unit.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:-

• Explain Philosophical research 
• List the main steps in Philosophical inquiry 
• Explain Historical research 
• Discuss the main features of Historical research 
• List the main steps in Historical research. 

PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH

Philosophical studies aim at the assessment of the status of knowledge through analysis of meaning and relationships of different concepts and exposition of underlying assumptions. They also aim at a fruitful synthesis of ideas from different fields concerning the theories and practices. It means that if you are a researcher in this area, you will be aiming at the analyses of meaning and nature of different concepts and the reluctance of different kinds of practices. You will have to identify appropriate norms and standard for practices through cross examination of ideas reflected by the different thinkers in your field of specialization.

The main thrust of philosophical research can be summarized as follows:

1. Study of the contributions made by a philosophers or groups of philosophers: Theseare philosophers or groups of philosophers who follow similar lines of thought expressingtheir ideas about the aspects of occasions in different forms – speeches, discourses, writing and institutional practices.
2. Study of the philosophical ideas propounded by a particular school of thought: You already know that philosophy is classified under different schools of thought, such as Idealism, naturalism, realism, existentialism, pragmatism, socialism or communism i.e. dialectical materialism. 
3. Study of the philosophical bases of the curriculum: So many questions are raised in the context of curriculum development. These include the desirability of the state of mind to learn, the criteria for identifying the desirability of the state of the mind. These are some of the issues related to theoretical and practical aspects which are the concerns of the philosopher. 
4. Study of the philosophical bases of instructional process: Philosophical research probes in to the alternative to instructional designs and system, their worth and social desirability in the overall frame work and understanding to human development. 
5. Study and philosophical analysis of contributions made by theories in psychology: Philosophical studies probe into the contributions of need theories and concept formation from the psychological process. 
6. Study and philosophical analysis of social theories: Issues like freedom, autonomy, democratic values, equality of opportunities, policies and practices, require philosophical analysis from time to time in order to accommodate the changes which improve or develop the societies. 

Main Steps in Philosophical Inquiry

There are well defined steps that need to be considered and followed in order to make a  successful philosophical inquiry.

• Identification of appropriate topic: As it is in every other research method, philosophical studies start with the selection of appropriate topic. You have to ensure that the topic chosen is capable of yielding a system, of thought with sound justification. Of course, you have to consult available literature before you finalize the topic. Look at these two topics.“A critical study of the educational implications of existentialism”. “A philosophicalstudy of Equality of Educational opportunity”.
• Collection of data: After the identification of the topic and raising some preliminary questions about this topic, you then go to collect all possible data relevant to the topic. Data can be collected from different sources including available literature. The type and sources of data may be of literary nature like to rite ups or opinions of the philosophers concerned, commentaries on relevant philosophical works which appear in the form of books, journals, transcriptions, recording, research reports etc. collection of these types of data is mostly done through library work. You have t note that this is a very crucial stage in this type of research process. You will have to decide the relevance and authenticity of the data and the nature of the sources.
• Classification of data and the interpretation: Logical classification of the data under different heads that focus on the topic of investigation is required here. After the classification comes the interpretation. This follows different processes such as description, comparison, appraisal, cross examination, etc. of the different ideas or concepts in the context of the major question under consideration, interpretation. Here is a scholarly exercise it rests on our analytical insight and your synthesizing ability.According to varma (1965) the task of interpretation is chiefly that of ascribing a  significance, meaning, purpose and relatedness to a common end and to an apparently heterogeneous mass of data. Personal biases and subjectivity must be as much as possible avoided.
• Reporting the study: This is the final stage of the research. You have to maintain logical sequences among the different heads of classification appropriate conclusion are drawn towards the end of the presentation.You have to be careful to ensure clarity and precision in your presentation. Cite appropriate references with quotations as well as all necessary points and emphasis on the presentations very carefully in the report.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE I

• Explain the main steps in Philosophical Research