Philosophical Research Perspectives and Planning your Research

'Research is concerned with discovering the right thing to do; audit with ensuring that it is done right'. This chapter aims to provide a map to explain the fundamental philosophical concepts that underpin knowledge creation during research and to provide information on the practical issues a researcher should consider before starting out on their project. There is considerable overlap in research, audit, quality improvement (QI), and evaluation activities, and the degree of overlap may be dependent on the specific project. The chapter focuses primarily on the scholarship of discovery, but it is important to acknowledge the broader definitions and the calls for more equitable recognition of all types of scholarship in the literature. Positivism became the dominant perspective after the Enlightenment, but following the realisation that not all research fits this paradigm, a shift in thinking occurred. This brought about a new way of thinking about social science, and new and competing philosophical perspectives emerged.