For no apparent reason, research philosophy tends to send dissertation
students into a mild panic. The befuddlement caused by a range of new
terminology relating to the philosophy of knowledge is unnecessary when
all that you are trying to achieve is some clarity over the status of any knowledge
claims you make in your study. Business and Management sits within
the broader context of the social sciences, and this chapter offers a guide to
the standard philosophical positions required to specify the particular form
of research you plan to undertake. Collectively, these positions will define
what we refer to as a research paradigm (see Figure 4.1: Methods Map). For
us, a comprehensive articulation of a research design draws together five
layers of interlocking choices that you, the researcher, should make when
specifying how you plan to execute your research. There is no single ‘right’
way to undertake research, but there are distinct traditions, each of which
tends to operate with its own, internally consistent, set of choices.