A note on research methodology: a clarification

A note on research methodology: a clarification (information from perplexity.ai)

My question 1: "Highlight the main ideas on research methodology in the context of social science, notably on Business Management, Housing Studies and Accounting & Finance."

The reply: "Research methodology in social science focuses on how we generate trustworthy knowledge about people, organisations, markets and places across different paradigms and methods.

Core ideas in social science research

• Start with an empirically answerable research problem and clear objectives that specify what you want to explain, understand or evaluate.

• Link your study to a research philosophy or paradigm (for example positivism, interpretivism, critical/realist, pragmatism) that shapes your view of reality and acceptable evidence.

• Choose a research strategy (survey, case study, experiment, ethnography, archival, action research, etc.) that matches the question, context and available data.

• Decide on a methodological choice: quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods, and justify how this supports validity, reliability and generalisability or transferability.

• Design robust procedures for sampling, data collection, analysis and ethics to ensure findings are credible and ethically defensible.

Business management research

• Business management research often aims at decision‐support: identifying problems, diagnosing causes and evaluating strategies or interventions.

• Common strategies include surveys of managers and employees, interviews, focus groups, case studies of organisations, and experiments or quasi‑experiments in areas like marketing or HR.

• Quantitative work relies on structured questionnaires, scales and statistical analysis to test hypotheses (for example regression, SEM), while qualitative work uses thematic analysis of interviews, documents and observations to build or refine theory.

• Mixed methods are increasingly used in management to combine breadth (surveys, secondary data) with depth (case studies, interviews) in a single project.

Typical focus in business management

• Performance and productivity, organisational culture and change, leadership and HR practices, innovation and strategy, customer behaviour and service quality.

• Strong emphasis on practical implications and actionable recommendations alongside theoretical contribution.

Housing studies research

• Housing studies is inherently interdisciplinary, sitting between planning, architecture, urban studies, sociology and public policy.

• Conventional housing research has used surveys, interviews and observations to study households, neighbourhoods, tenure, affordability and policy impacts.
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• Methodological debates contrast empirically‑based, often positivist work (large surveys, modelling, “big data” on housing markets) with more interpretive, place‑specific studies of lived experience and local institutions.
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• Newer approaches include using large linked datasets to map spatial patterns, comparative case studies across cities or countries, and co‑production with practitioners (e.g. municipalities, NGOs) through embedded or action research modes.

Typical focus in housing studies

• Housing affordability and finance, tenure choice, satisfaction and residential mobility, social inequality and segregation, policy design and evaluation, and neighbourhood effects.

• Strong attention to context, locality and the interaction between households, markets and the state.

Accounting and finance research

• Accounting and finance methodology is often framed around empirical versus non‑empirical work and around different paradigms, from economics‑based functionalist to interpretive and critical traditions.

• Mainstream accounting and finance research frequently uses archival quantitative methods: large databases of financial statements, market prices and governance variables analysed with econometrics and capital‑market models.

• Other recognised methodologies include analytical modelling, experiments, field and case studies, surveys, content analysis and ethnography, each linked to distinct research purposes (explanation, prediction, understanding practice, or normative prescription).

• Methodology is seen as a chain of decisions about research problem, strategy, method and paradigm rather than a single choice of technique.

Typical focus in accounting and finance

• Market efficiency, valuation and risk, corporate governance and earnings quality, management control and performance measurement, auditing, and the social/ethical roles of accounting.

• Increasing interest in paradigm plurality, opening space for mixed methods and critical perspectives alongside conventional archival and analytical work.

Cross‑cutting themes for your fields

• All three areas require explicit alignment of research question, paradigm, strategy and methods (for example using a “research onion”‑type framework) to ensure coherence.

• Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods are legitimate across business management, housing and accounting/finance; the fit with theory, data and practical constraints is what matters.

• There is a shared tension between generalisable, often positivist research (surveys, experiments, archival data, big data) and context‑rich interpretive or critical work (case studies, ethnography, co‑production with practitioners).

If you like, I can next turn this into a 1–2 page teaching handout tailored to MBA, Housing Studies and Accounting/Finance students with examples of dissertation topics under each methodological approach."

My question 2: "Provide a brief account on the evolution of the topic of research methodology in social science over the past 60 years."

The reply: "Research methodology in social science has evolved from positivist dominance to a pluralistic landscape, marked by the rise of qualitative methods, paradigm debates, and integrated approaches over the past 60 years.

1960s–1970s: Positivist peak and qualitative emergence

Post-WWII quantitative methods, especially surveys and experiments, solidified positivism as the mainstream paradigm, emphasizing objective measurement and hypothesis-testing inspired by natural sciences.

 

Qualitative approaches gained traction via ethnography and case studies (e.g., Marienthal 1930s revival, Chicago School influences), challenging pure quantification for ignoring context and meaning.

 

By late 1970s, works like Kuhn's paradigms (1962) and Burrell/Morgan's sociological paradigms (1979) sparked debates on ontology/epistemology, highlighting positivism's limits.

1980s–1990s: Paradigm wars and diversification

Interpretivism, constructivism, and critical paradigms emerged strongly, promoting subjective realities, power dynamics, and emancipation (e.g., feminism, postmodernism).

 

Qualitative methods proliferated (grounded theory, discourse analysis), while mixed methods saw early explicit advocacy, building on anthropology's long integration traditions.

Decline in overt qualitative-quantitative integration post-1940 reversed, with calls for complementarity amid "paradigm wars."

2000s–present: Pluralism and mixed methods boom

Mixed methods formalized as a "third paradigm" (late 1980s onward), blending strengths for comprehensive insights, driven by pragmatism.

 

Big data, computational tools, and interdisciplinarity fueled innovations like network analysis and machine learning, entering a "golden age" of methods.

 

Pluralism prevails: no single paradigm dominates; choices align with questions, with ongoing emphasis on rigor, ethics, and real-world relevance."

My question 3: "Provide an example of a research methodology that is based on pragmatism with regard to each of the three fields: (1) business management, (2) housing studies and (3) accounting & finance."

The reply: "Pragmatism in research methodology prioritizes practical solutions to real-world problems over rigid adherence to a single paradigm, often employing mixed methods to generate actionable knowledge.

Business Management Example

A pragmatic study on organisational change processes uses a multi-site case study approach.

Researchers conduct qualitative interviews and observations to explore staff experiences, then integrate quantitative surveys to test patterns across sites, focusing on actionable recommendations like training interventions that stakeholders co-develop.

This emphasises interconnected experience, knowing and acting, with objectives refined via early stakeholder input to address knowledge gaps of practical use.

Housing Studies Example

In pragmatic socioeconomics applied to housing, researchers examine tenure choice and market volatility using mixed methods from large surveys like EU-SILC and CHPS.

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Quantitative analysis identifies patterns in affordability and family transfers, complemented by in-depth interviews with laddering techniques to uncover motivations like tenure norms or biases driving irrational decisions.

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The goal is interdisciplinary insights into market failures, informing policy on social stratification and housing crises through verification of economic vs. social factors.

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Accounting & Finance Example

A behavioural accounting study on management control systems adopts pragmatism for mixed methods flexibility.

Quantitative experiments or archival data quantify decision impacts (e.g., cost calculation effects), while qualitative interviews add context on practitioner behaviours and shared understandings.

Integration overcomes monomethod limits, enabling comprehensive theory development and practice recommendations without ontological constraints."

My question 4: "Provide an example of a research methodology that is based on interpretivism with regard to each of the three fields: (1) business management, (2) housing studies and (3) accounting & finance."

The reply: "Interpretivism in research methodology emphasizes subjective meanings, lived experiences, and social constructions, typically using qualitative methods to uncover how participants perceive and interpret their realities.

Business Management Example

An interpretive study explores how family business owners construct their leadership identities through in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations in natural settings.

Researchers analyze narratives and interactions to reveal multiple interpretations of family dynamics influencing strategy and governance, emphasizing researcher reflexivity for contextual depth.

This approach uncovers ideologies and experiences that quantitative methods overlook, generating theory from participants' viewpoints.

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Housing Studies Example

Interpretive research examines residents' lived experiences of housing satisfaction in public estates via phenomenological interviews and narrative analysis.

Focus is on subjective priorities like community ties and place attachment, using thematic coding to map diverse meanings of "home" across socio-economic groups.

Findings highlight context-specific interpretations of policy impacts, prioritizing emic perspectives over generalized metrics.

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Accounting & Finance Example

A study on accountants' sense-making of ethical dilemmas in financial reporting employs grounded theory from semi-structured interviews and document analysis.

Researchers interpret how professionals negotiate rules, values, and pressures in practice, building theory inductively from situated accounts.

This reveals tacit knowledge and cultural influences on decision-making, challenging assumptions of rational, objective accounting behavior."

My question 5: "Provide an example of a research methodology that is based on positivism with regard to each of the three fields: (1) business management, (2) housing studies and (3) accounting & finance."

The reply: "Positivism in research methodology assumes an objective reality that can be measured and tested through empirical, quantitative methods to establish generalizable laws or causal relationships.

Business Management Example

A positivist study tests the impact of evidence-based management practices on employee retention using a deductive survey approach.

Researchers develop hypotheses from existing theory (e.g., links between HR practices and turnover), collect structured questionnaire data from business leaders across firms, and analyze it with structural equation modeling to quantify relationships while controlling variables like company size.

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This produces replicable, objective findings on optimal practices for general application in fast-paced business environments.

Housing Studies Example

Positivist housing research examines factors influencing affordability using large-scale surveys and econometric modeling.

Researchers hypothesize relationships (e.g., income, policy subsidies, and tenure choice), gather quantitative data from national datasets like census or EU-SILC, and apply regression analysis to identify statistically significant predictors and causal effects across regions.

Results offer generalizable policy insights, such as price elasticity thresholds, independent of subjective resident views.

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Accounting & Finance Example

A positivist investigation analyzes the effect of corporate governance on earnings quality via archival data analysis.

Researchers test hypotheses deductively using large samples from financial databases (e.g., board independence and accruals quality), applying statistical tests like panel regressions to detect objective patterns and causal links.

This yields value-neutral, replicable evidence on governance mechanisms' financial impacts for broad market application."

My question 6: "Provide an example of a research methodology that is based on critical realism with regard to each of the three fields: (1) business management, (2) housing studies and (3) accounting & finance."

The reply: "Critical realism in research methodology posits a stratified reality where underlying generative mechanisms (often unobservable) produce observable events, analyzed through retroductive logic and mixed methods to explain causal powers in context.

Business Management Example

A critical realist study investigates workplace inequality using comparative case studies of organizations.

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Researchers combine intensive interviews and observations (empirical/actual domains) with archival data to retroducively identify mechanisms like gendered power structures driving wage gaps, testing their activation across contexts.

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This generates emancipatory insights for policy interventions, distinguishing surface events from deeper structures.

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Housing Studies Example

Critical realist housing research examines neighbourhood deprivation via multi-method analysis.

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Ethnographic interviews capture resident experiences (empirical), linked to quantitative indicators of economic restructuring (actual), retroductively revealing mechanisms like policy-induced segregation (real).

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The approach integrates micro-level agency with macro-structures, informing place-based interventions.

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Accounting & Finance Example

A study on financial crises adopts critical realism through mixed-methods evaluation.

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Quantitative archival data on market events (actual) pairs with qualitative interviews on decision-making (empirical), retroducting hidden mechanisms like speculative bubbles or regulatory failures (real).

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Triangulation via context-mechanism-outcome configurations yields causal explanations beyond correlations."

My question 7: "What are the specific topics covered in a research methodology in a dissertation project application that are not examined in depth in a research method in a dissertation project application?"

The reply: "Research methodology sections in dissertation project applications typically cover foundational choices like paradigm, research design, data collection/analysis methods, sampling, and basic justification, but they go beyond the narrower "research methods" focus on operational techniques.

Key Topics Exclusive to Methodology

Philosophical Justification: Explicit discussion of ontology, epistemology, and paradigm (e.g., positivism vs. interpretivism), linking them to your research questions—often omitted in methods sections that assume these.

Research Strategy/Design Rationale: Explanation of overarching strategy (e.g., case study, survey, experiment) and why it fits your objectives, including time horizon (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal)—methods sections detail execution only.

Sampling Strategy and Population: Detailed population definition, sampling frame, and selection criteria (e.g., purposive vs. random), with justification for representativeness—methods may just list sample size.

Reliability, Validity, and Rigour Plans: Proactive measures for trustworthiness (e.g., triangulation, pilot testing, reflexivity), biases mitigation, and limitations—methods report post-hoc results.

Ethical Framework: Comprehensive ethics protocol (e.g., consent, confidentiality, risk assessment, approvals)—beyond basic mentions in methods.

Comparison Table

Aspect	Research Methodology (Detailed)	Research Methods (Operational)
Paradigm	Full ontological/ epistemological defense	Rarely included
Design Rationale	Why this strategy over alternatives	How design was implemented
Sampling Justification	Theoretical basis and generalisability	Actual sample achieved
Validity/Rigour	Planned safeguards and criteria	Results validation
Ethics	Full protocol and principles	Procedural compliance

 

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.