Medidas renales obtenidas ecográficamente

3.1.1 Paradigm

Guba (1990) defined paradigm as a basic set of beliefs that guide action. Paradigms deal with principles, or ultimates (Denzin and Lincoln 2011). Denzin and Lincoln (2008) (p. 245) suggested paradigms as basic belief systems based on ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions. They are the philosophical stances of the research. Ontology discusses the beliefs of the nature of reality and humanity, epistemology is the theory of knowledge that informs the research, and methodology focuses on how the knowledge can be acquired. A comprehensive consideration of ontology, epistemology, and methodology is a central feature of social science research (Guba and Lincoln 1994).

Ontology is the study of reality (Crotty 1998). Blaikie defined ontology as the study of “claims

and assumptions that are made about the nature of social reality, claims about what exists, what it looks like, what units make it up and how these units interact with each other” (Guba

and Lincoln 1994, p.10). The ontological position of a research is the investigation of the nature of the reality. The popular example of ontological positions includes objectivism vs. constructivism (Sutrisna 2009). Objectivism claims that the empirical fact is the objective reality which exists independently from personal ideas or thoughts, so that everyone experiences the same way to the reality (Sutrisna 2009, Crotty 1998). Constructivism claims that the world is continually being constructed, interpreted, and accomplished by people in their interactions with each other and with wider social society, so that everyone constructs the reality differently (Sutrisna 2009, Marczyk, DeMatteo, and Festinger 2005).

Epistemology concerns the claim of “what is assumed to exist can be known by the knower or

to-be-knower” (Guba and Lincoln 1994). It is defined as “the theory of knowledge embedded in the theoretical perspective and thereby in the methodology” (Crotty 1998) (p.3). It deals

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that to be created, acquired and communicated (Cohen et al. 2013). Epistemology is the view of how one acquires knowledge. Epistemology looks at especially the methods and the possible ways of gaining knowledge in the assumed reality (Sutrisna 2009). The two broad epistemological positions are positivism vs. interpretivism (Sutrisna 2009). Positivism advocates the application of methods to observe, study the reality and discover the truth according to the same principles of natural science (Sutrisna 2009, Bryman 1984). Interpretivism claims that the reality separates from the observers/researchers, the truth of the reality is constructed individually and interpreted from their own viewpoint (Sutrisna 2009). Objectivism is the basis of positivist to understand reality with the focus on experiencing only one reality by all observers/researchers. Constructivism is the basis of interpretivist to understand reality with different viewpoints. It is argued that the philosophical view may be divided into two dimensions: one with objectivist ontology and positivist epistemology, another with constructivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology.

3.1.2 Deductive and Inductive Research

The next level of research methodology is the discussion on the reasoning of research (Sutrisna 2009). It refers to the logic of the research, which focuses on exploring the role of existing body of knowledge gathered from the literature study, the way researchers utilise the data collection and subsequent data analysis (Sutrisna 2009). Deductive and inductive research are the two ways of reasoning. The logic of deductive research is composing hypothesis based on current body of knowledge (one objective truth), followed by data collection and analysis to test the hypothesis, whilst the logic of inductive research starts by conducting data collection and analysis to come up with findings, then using the current body of knowledge to inform the data analysis when researchers see appropriate (Sutrisna 2009).

3.1.3 Qualitative and Quantitative Research

The research methodology used in social science can generally be divided into qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative approaches follow the ontological position of objectivism. They are based on the positivistic ideal – an idea of independently existing reality that can be observed as it is. Quantitative methodology is routinely described as an approach to test theories deductively, a focus on gathering factual data, carrying on controlled inquiry against bias, and quantifying objective explanation (Steckler et al. 1992). Researchers are verification and outcome-oriented, and the results are viewed as generalisable, replicable and capable of isolation from reality (Slevitch 2011, Tuli 2011). Quantitative research is usually designed under experimental conditions to test theories. It is conducted in an attempt to answer questions such as why something happens, what causes some events, or under what conditions

42 an event does occur (Hughes 2012).

Qualitative methodology is inductive. It is based on constructivism and interpretivism (Steckler et al. 1992). Qualitative methods focus on investigating the quality of phenomena, taking into account the interactions between reality and researchers, and explaining the phenomena from the viewpoint of participants. The data used in qualitative research are subjective as the events are understood and explained when researchers immersed in the context. Qualitative approaches are discovery and process oriented; the results are less concerned with generalisability and replicability (Tolley et al. 2016, Tuli 2011). Qualitative research is usually used to suggest possible relationships, effects and dynamic processes (Hughes 2012). Mixed methods are the combination of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. It involves the mixed use of qualitative and quantitative methods concurrently or subsequently in the study of the same phenomenon (Creswell and Clark 2007). This study aims to develop and validate a TCM method to improve plan reliability and work productivity in LNG construction. A positivist epistemology was adopted in this research. Mixed methods of both qualitative and quantitative methods were conducted subsequently in this research. More specifically, focus group study method was conducted to facilitate the development of the TCM framework while experimental methods including lab-based experiments (i.e. Lean Simulation Game) and field experiments were conducted to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed TCM framework.