Firstly, from an epistemological point of view, the theory of ‘knowledge’ underpins the
legitimacy and the framework of a process which involves working out exactly how the
research would count as evidence of ‘knowledge’ in any particular social environment
(Mason, 2002). Secondly, epistemology concerns what is and is not accepted as
‘knowledge’ in the research (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). In contrast to ontology,
epistemology is regarded as ‘knowing’ through imitation of principles, procedures and