MEB531

Research as a Discipline

~ A Historical Perspective ~

Dr Richard Mutemwa, PhD FRSS

 In this Session

• What is research?
• Two types of research
• Importance of research
• A brief history
• Knowledge & its sociology
~ Sociology of Knowledge
 What is Research?
• A creative & systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of
knowledge, including knowledge of humans, culture & society,
and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications
• A piece of work that involves evaluating a process, tool or
application to determine its utility and value
• Involves collection, organization and analysis of data to increase
our understanding of a topic or issue
• Three generic steps:
 Pose a question
 Collect data to answer the question
 Present an answer to the question

• In fact research is not just a mechanical process, but a cerebral

intellectual one
 The Goal of Research
• Is epistemological – about generation of knowledge
• Epistemology:
 the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge & its acquisition

 the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human

knowledge
 seeks to discover what is known & how it is known

• There are three (3) main conditions of knowledge in epistemology:

 Truth

 Belief

 Justification
 The Conditions of Knowledge in
Epistemology
• TRUTH:
Truth occurs when false propositions cannot be discerned. Thus, in order
for something to be knowledge it must be true in nature – it must exist and be
discernible. A lie cannot be truth because it is not factual.
• BELIEF:
What makes belief justifiable is a condition of knowledge? Precedence;
experience; reliability of source; it is produced by a process that is credible.
• JUSTIFICATION:
Underpins the above 2 conditions. Comes in different philosophical
forms. Can be powerful in entrenching knowledge – including ‘faulty’ knowledge.
Difference between justification for action & justification for knowledge.
 Two Types of Research

• Basic Research: documentation, discovery,

interpretation, interpretation, or the research &
development of methods and systems for the
advancement of human knowledge.
 Fills the knowledge we don’t have
 Tries to learn things that aren't always directly applicable or
useful immediately

• Applied Research: seeks to answer a question in

the real world and to solve a problem.
 Problem-solving research
 Informs decision-making
 Constitutes majority of on-going research in the world
 Importance of Research?

• Adds to our knowledge & contributes to existing

information about issues
• Improves practice, implementers become more
effective
• Informs policy debates & provides information to
policy and decision makers
• May be used to expand past work in a field,
developing knowledge further
• May be used to test validity/effectiveness of
procedures, tools, instruments, interventions,
 Data & Information
• DATA: is material in its raw or unorganized form (such
as letters, words, text, graphics, numbers, or symbols) that
refer to, or represent, conditions, ideas, or objects. Data is
limitless and present everywhere in the universe. Data have
no value in themselves.

• INFORMATION: is stimuli that has meaning in some context

for its receiver. When information is entered into and stored
in a computer, it is generally referred to as data. After
processing (and/or analysis), output data can again be
perceived as information.
 A Brief History
• Research is a basic human instinct linked to curiosity
• Research as a formal practice may be as old as history of
mankind
• For thousands of years people have been concerned
about the quality, safety & integrity of foods & medicines
• Think about the experiment of King Nebuchadnezzar on
Daniel – in the first chapter of the Book of Daniel in the
Bible. The result of that experiment is at Daniel 1:15-16:
King James Version
 A Brief History
• One of the earliest modern experiments can be traced to
1767 by William Watson, a paediatric physician in London
• His experiment tested a smallpox vaccine on 31 children
• History of scientific journals begun in 1665 (354-years) with
the publication of:
 Journal des Scavans (France)
 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (GB)

• First volume of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal

Society (PTRS) was 16-pages long, with 10 short articles
• Isaac Newton’s first ever scientific publication was with the
PTRS in 1666
 A Brief History

• Yet, throughout all this history, what is researched has always

been influenced by local priorities, values, beliefs & concerns
– the local social context
• The local social context refers to the local sociology, which
differs from one society, community or population to another
• Thus, local knowledge generation and consumption are
influenced by the local sociology – what German Sociologist
Emile Durkheim and his peers referred to as the “Sociology of
Knowledge”
 Sociology of Knowledge
• Is the study of the relationship between human thought & the
social context within which it arises, as well as the effects that
prevailing ideas have on societies
• It is about the extent and limits of the socio-cultural basis of
our knowledge about the world
• Deals directly with how conceptual thought, language, and
logic can be influenced by the social milieu out of which they
arise
• Basic Question: Does human participation in social life have
any influence on human knowledge, thought, and culture and,
if it does, what sort of influence it is
• Pioneered primarily by sociologist Emile Durkeim at beginning
of 20th Century
 Sociology of Knowledge
• Once upon a time, knowledge or even the sciences were treated as
immune to social analysis or direct social influences
• Now, it is well formally recognized that both the production, sharing
& use of knowledge are all achieved and influenced in social context
• Therefore, scientific research, being directly associated with
knowledge generation & use, also achieved and influenced in social
context
• The research process & research outputs are often urged to be seen
and understood objectively for what they are; yet both are heavily
shaped by local social context influences
• Even what is considered “objective” tends to be tinged by local
social influences
 Sociology of Knowledge

• Local social influences on research or production of

knowledge mean that justification for any particular
research topic has to take into account local social
perspectives, values, beliefs & pre-existing knowledge
on the proposed subject of research, in order to gain
local support which in many instances includes
securing of funding for the research project
• Local social influences on interpretation and sharing of
research findings mean that plans for dissemination of
the research findings cannot be divorced from the
local social context conditions
 Sociology of Knowledge
• However, sometimes local social context factors may
not be the dominant influences on production &
consumption of knowledge
• In such times, global or foreign social context factors
may be the dominant influences on production &
consumption of knowledge
• For instance, presently, majority of public health
research going on in poor countries, especially sub-
Saharan Africa, is funded by foreign governments and
powerful international NGOs who then consequently
determine the local public health research agenda
 Research Literacy
• The Sociology of Knowledge may also be influenced by the level of
research literacy in the local social context, particularly so each time
a novel research methodology is introduced
• Local community responses to announced research activities and/or
their findings, are partly shaped by how well the community
understands the research process, its components and their
justification
• For instance, in the previous Microbicide clinical trial, the community
accused the researchers of infecting study participants with HIV
before administering the drug, as the clinical trial procedure used
• Local research literacy justifies the collaborative research strategy, in
which research scientists collaborate with the local communities from
which the study participants are recruited
Thank you !