methodology of data collection
Introduction
This section examines the methodology of data collection that were used to carry out the research for this project. To achieve the aims and objectives, we started with acquiring knowledge on the car industry itself and the emission issues within the industry. However, there is a list of necessary steps which had to be taken first to produce knowledge for the research.
i. Epistemology – The theory of knowledge
We as human beings perceive ourselves ‘to know a great deal‘ (Audi, 2010, page 1), however, ‘we sometimes misremember‘ and therefore this falsifies our belief. Therefore, there are three main elements of knowledge to understand it, such as, ‘(a) belief, (b) which is true and (c) justified’ (Nandha, page 1). Hospers (1997, page 39) states that ‘knowing how’ is merely a ‘learned ability’ and therefore knowledge is not conceivable without having ‘acquaintance with something’. From this research, the prime data that we used for our analysis were information given directly by the car company themselves and therefore these data epitomise the truth. In addition, the users are then able to establish their own views based on the given data. The material provided from companies has allowed us to compare with their competitors and with relevant regulatory bodies and therefore giving us the foundation to develop our knowledge. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
ii. Philosophical inquiry
The validation of the data can be questioned whether it is reliable or accurate as mentioned by Lehrer et. al (1983, page 191) that ‘justification required for knowledge aims at obtaining truth and avoiding error‘. However, Hines (1988, page 257) states that ‘in communicating reality, you construct reality’ which shows the two opposing views between the authors. As a result, we have used Hines perspective to construct views but at the same time furthered our argument when required using the reliable data we have collected. It can also be said that our research is predominately ‘secondary data’ information which represents our truth as no primary data collection took place which may have given us a different perspective and a level of assurance on the reliability of data.
iii. Sources of knowledge
We have so far shown that knowledge is established from the foundation of a theory but what are the sources of knowledge? Audi (2010, page 7) states that the ‘raw materials for inductive generalizations’ is affiliated with ‘perception, memory, consciousness, and reason’. Audi (2002, page 1) explains that perception is what we ‘saw, heard, smelled, felt and tasted’ and memory is needed to ‘retain’ (page 6) the knowledge we have learnt.
In addition, Hospers (1997, page 39-43) highlights further sources of knowledge such as ‘Introspection’ is ‘knowledge of our own thoughts and feelings’ which allows us to formulate an opinion based on the analysis carried out in our mind and link information to the relevant sections of the study. However, we regularly ‘misremember’ which can lead to our knowledge not being accurate at all time. Furthermore, this can lead us to believing what we want to believe and as a result can lead to a distortion of the real reality ahead of us, so ‘faith’ itself will not tell us ‘which view, if any, is right’. In addition, if we make an estimate from the few amount of data we collect it can be defined as ‘intuition’, as ‘there is no claim to knowledge’. Therefore, highlighting the necessity for ‘testimony’, which can be in the shape of verbal evidence and has a level of authority that makes it trustworthy. Conversely, a ‘weak sense’ of knowledge can lead to doubt on the validity of the data produced.
iv. Research Methods: Positivism
As part of the project we must appreciate that there need to be a methodology of gathering facts and figures to validate our research and ensure that the knowledge that we have gathered is of credibility and is collected with the correct approach. Therefore, the two methods of gathering knowledge that we have chosen are positivism and phenomenology. Firstly, Positivism was initially introduced by August Comte and according to (Comte, 1998) it stems from epistemology that is associated with objectivity. It is a philosophy that considers knowledge to be trustworthy only if it is factual and is gained through observations and has a scope of measurement. Positivism is a research method that believes that knowledge is sourced from human experience and human interests are irrelevant and the researcher is to be independent of the study. Also, positivist studies are often based on deductive approach. This method is best suited to this project as it omits any human interests and the information gathered is based on observations and experiences.
v. Research Methods: Phenomenology
Phenomenology is another branch of epistemology and was first introduced by (smith, 2003 who referred to Husserls 2003). Disregarding to external or any physical reality phenomenology is a research method that is more concerned with findings that is because of experiences, occurrence and events. As appose to positivism, human interest is very much the focus of this research method which is co related to a wide verity of data available. This research method is based on how we as human perceive events and are not academically based. Hence, we do not have the opportunity to examine the results for ourselves or gather facts that are based on our observations, we will not be using this research method.
vi. Process of Induction
The ‘process of induction’ can be referred to as ‘the development of ideas or theories through observations’ (Deegan, 2009, page 7). The graph below has been taken from Chalmers (1991, page 54) and it indicates the stages we have undertaken for our research, as there is an induction stage and deduction stage, which happen at the two different stages of the induction process. Chalmers (1999, page 17) explains induction as ‘facts acquired by observation’ which the stage we have undertaken in our research as it contains the data composed thorough our observation. The second stage is the hypothesis testing, where the theories are tested. However, we have not implemented the deduction process in our research.
vii. Summary and Discussion
To summarise, this section has shown the stages that we have carried out to build our research by starting with the theory of knowledge. The actual meaning of knowledge was then highlighted and the sources of knowledge was inspected as well as showing how we implemented them into our research. We have also mentioned the stages of the induction process and how it was applied to the study.