Critical Review of a Research Philosophy

Running head: RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
Critical Review of a Research Philosophy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of content
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Research philosophy: A literature review..................................................................................4
Positivism: An overview........................................................................................................4
From Verification to Falsification..........................................................................................6
Philosophical underpinnings......................................................................................................7
The article...............................................................................................................................7
Positivist influences...............................................................................................................9
Quality Critique....................................................................................................................10
An alternative lens....................................................................................................................11
Interpretivism: An overview................................................................................................11
An interpretivist approach....................................................................................................13
Consumers Behaviour......................................................................................................13
Numerical analysis and findings......................................................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................17

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Chosen Article: The Effect of Customers' Social Media Participation on Customer Visit
Frequency and Profitability: An Empirical Investigation
Introduction:
Research philosophy is an essential part of a study that defines the structure, purpose
and even the approach of the research through which the researcher can develop appropriate
research tools including data collection tools and analysis tools (Rohana and Zuraina 2017).
In this paper a chosen article named “The Effect of Customers' Social Media Participation on
Customer Visit Frequency and Profitability: An Empirical Investigation” have been critically
analysed considering the research philosophy. The authors of this article are Rishika Rishika,
Ashish Kumar, Ramkumar Janakiraman and Ram Bezawada. The article was published in
March 2013. This article shaded light on the social media participation of customers and its
effect on frequency of consumer’s visit and its impact on the profitability of any business
organisation. This study did not clearly convey it’s taken research philosophy. However,
according to the structure, design, approach and perception of the article, the research
philosophy of this study could be examined. In this chosen article the research philosophy is
positivism. Therefore, in this paper the positivism philosophy will be reviewed. Therefore to
analyse the article through the alternative lens the Interpretivism philosophy will be selected.
In this paper a literature review will be presented considering the research philosophy
of the chosen article. After that, the research philosophy will be critically evaluated while
analysis the significance of the research philosophy within the chosen article. In the next part
the philosophical influence on the chosen article will be explored with the critical analysis of
the quality of the chosen research. In the next phase the alternative philosophical approach
will be discussed. In this section the research philosophy of the chosen article will be also
analysed through the lens of this article. The process of conclusion formulation and

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representation of findings will be analysed in this section. The purpose of this paper is to
critically review of a research philosophy while evaluating the philosophy of the chosen
research article considering the ontology as well as the epistemology.
Research philosophy: A literature review
Positivism: An overview
Positivism is a philosophical theory that state that positive knowledge in based on the
natural phenomena and their characteristics that can be perceived by sensory experience and
can be interpreted by logical reasoning. The world ‘Positivism’ came from the French word
‘Positivisme’, which means the ‘imposed on the mind by experience’. As stated by Lou
(2012), The traditional criteria of a positivist research is that it should contains some rigorous,
well-argued and stimulating methodological discussion which should also has the validity,
integrity and the conclusion as well as the reliability of the study. Positivism philosophy
allows any study to measure the perceived reality and to validate a certain trough. The origin
of the positivism philosophy is Empiricism philosophy established John Locke and Devid
Hume based on either sensation and reflection. In the early age of 19th century the Empiricism
philosophy advanced to Positivism and applied in sociological study by Auguste Comte
(Sultanova 2016). He is known as the founder of the positivism and sociological study. He
explained the positivism philosophy through the universal, empirical method and observable
facts. In late 19th century Emile Durkheim applied this positivism philosophy in many
sociological study where he discussed and critically explained many psychological factors
involved in sociological perception as well.
The meaning and implementation of positivism philosophy in research has been
changed gradually over time. From the understanding of positivism at the time Auguste
Comte has been changed throughout the 20th century by several scholars and philosophers.