3. Philosophy and research approach debates
There is much ongoing debate on where a particular method (i.e. qualitative, quantitative or mixed method) is rooted or founded in relation to these philosophies (Johnson and Duberley, 2000; Bryman, 1984; Morgan and Smircich, 1980; Caelli et al., 2003). Even Guba and Lincoln (1994) acknowledged the ongoing patents of paradigm to research approach. Few exemplary discussions of these debates are provided on table 1 below:
3.1 Philosophy debates for neither of the approaches
Whilst the scholars battle out on the foundation of philosophies or paradigms to research approach, Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004) argue that the differences in epistemological beliefs and logic of justification do not dictate what specific data collection and analytical methods to utilise, therefore, should not prevent the exploitation of any methods. In support of this, Guba and Lincoln (1994) stress that the rooting of approaches is secondary to paradigm and do no limit the use of either qualitative or quantitative from any research paradigm. Differences of trivial nature paid to philosophies in relation to research approach are greatly discussed by Becker (1996).