Читать книгу Turning Ideas into Research - Barbara Fawcett - Страница 11

In order to make sense of what is around us, we all develop theories. It is about posing ‘why’ questions, such as ‘why is that person being responded to in that way?’ or ‘why are older people portrayed as “vulnerable”?’. Sometimes, what have been termed ‘overarching’ theories or ‘grand’ theories inform how we interpret and make sense of what is around us. Marxism and psychoanalysis are two examples of very different ‘grand’ theories which can serve to shape understandings and interpretation. In a similar way, modernism and postmodernism influence ideas, theory building and forms of analysis. Modernism, for example, can generally be regarded as encapsulating Enlightenment thinking associated with the supremacy of logic and reason over emotion and a belief in the march of progress. Postmodernism, in its embrace of uncertainty, relativity and fluidity, rejected the key tenets and securities of modernism, preferring instead to focus on contradiction, paradox and flux (Fawcett, 2000). We make meaning by theory building, be it by subscribing to or taking on board ‘grand’ theories or by posing our own theories to explain what we see around us. Ideas are about theories and ideas and theory building go together.

As part of this discussion, it is important to point out that scientific method and positivist traditions insisted that, in research terms, theories needed to be tested and proved or disproved by the application of prescribed methodologies. However, postmodernist influences have opened up the whole arena of theory building. This is not to say that in research terms ‘anything goes’ – throughout this book we point to the need for rigour in carrying out all research projects. However, we also want to highlight that ideas no longer need to be tied to particular positions, ways of operating or methodological frames. Researchers need to be clear about what has informed their idea or set of ideas and the theory building that has accompanied this and to present their case, but we want to emphasize that flexibility and creativity and innovation can be embedded in this process.