A brief notes on some major topics in research philosophy: for MBA students

A brief notes on some major topics in research philosophy: for MBA students

 

Highlight 4 main ideas on the following topics of research philosophy in MBA research methods study:

1.    ontology

2.    epistemology

3.    axiology

Also briefly highlight 4 main ideas of the following topics:

1.    Empiricism

2.    Rationalism

3.    Idealism

4.    Realism

5.    Romanticism

 

Research philosophy is the set of assumptions a researcher makes about reality, knowledge, and values; it guides whether an MBA study leans quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods. The three core elements are ontology, epistemology, and axiology.

Research philosophy

Topic	Four main ideas
Ontology	1. It asks: What is the nature of reality? 2. It concerns whether reality is objective and external, or socially constructed by people. 3. It shapes what the researcher treats as real—for example, an organization, culture, customer perception, or management practice. 4. It influences whether the study seeks measurable facts or deeper meanings and interpretations.
Epistemology	1. It asks: How do we know what we know? 2. It defines what counts as valid, acceptable, and legitimate knowledge. 3. It determines the kind of evidence needed—such as numerical data, interviews, observations, or documents. 4. It guides how findings are produced, justified, and communicated to others. bam.ac+1
Axiology	1. It is the study of values and value judgements in research. 2. It asks how the researcher’s own beliefs and values affect the research. 3. It also considers participants’ values, ethics, fairness, and respect in the research process. 4. It influences choices such as researcher neutrality versus active involvement, and how ethical issues are handled.

Major schools of thought

School	Four main ideas
School		Four main ideas
Empiricism		1. Knowledge comes primarily from experience. 2. Observation and sensory evidence are central to learning. 3. Ideas should be tested against real-world evidence. 4. In business research, it supports surveys, experiments, measurements, and data-based conclusions.
Rationalism		1. Reason is the main source of knowledge. 2. Logical thinking and deduction can produce knowledge beyond direct observation. 3. Some knowledge, such as logic or mathematics, may not depend on sensory experience. 4. In research, it supports theory-led reasoning, hypotheses, models, and logical analysis.
Idealism		1. Ideas, minds, or consciousness are central to understanding reality. 2. What people perceive is shaped by their ideas and interpretations. 3. Reality is understood through meanings, beliefs, and human experience. 4. In MBA research, it fits qualitative studies of perceptions, motivations, culture, and lived experience.
Realism		1. Objects and truths can exist independently of whether people perceive them. 2. There is a reality “out there” that research tries to understand. 3. Knowledge should aim to describe that reality as accurately as possible. 4. In business research, it supports studies of measurable organizational facts, structures, and causal relationships.
Romanticism		1. It emphasizes feeling, imagination, and emotion alongside reason. 2. It values individual experience, creativity, and personal expression. 3. It often reacts against overly mechanical or purely rational views of the world. 4. In research, it encourages attention to human meaning, emotion, narrative, and context.

A useful MBA shortcut: ontology asks what reality is, epistemology asks how we can know it, and axiology asks what values should guide the research.