Epistemological foundations of quantitative research

Epistemology refers to beliefs about knowledge and how knowledge is constructed. It is one part of the philosophical assumptions that influences which methodologies and methods researchers consider appropriate (Crotty, 1998; Lather, 2006). All aspects of the research process are informed by one’s epistemology, from embedded assumptions about what is known to the development of theories, research questions, and study designs (Pallas, 2001; Collins, 1990). Upon the dissemination of findings, epistemologies also influence how research is interpreted and understood within a research community (Pallas, 2001). In social science research, common terms have been developed to describe general categories of epistemologies. We describe three of these categories in this paper: (post)positivism, constructivism, and critical theory. We do not present these categories to continue the “Paradigm Wars” between quantitative and qualitative research as incompatible research approaches (see Bryman, 2008). Instead, we present the categories to provide context to the proposed discussion of quantitative methods and non-positivist approaches.