Week 13 - What type of researcher am I?

Through my researching journey, I discovered the way I find gathering my data most effectively is based around a qualitative research method. This is a primary characteristic which demonstrates my philosophical worldview of Social constructivism. Not only as a researcher, but as I live my daily life, I am an individual who gathers my sense of the world through experiences and understanding. I find myself consistently having the ability to look at the world through all the shades of grey. Creswell (2005) promotes this concept when he states that 'meanings are constructed by human beings as they engage with the world they are interpreting'. Creswell (2005, p.8) discusses the actions of connecting and extracting meaning within specific objects, or concepts, and enabling one's self to respect the complexity of these concepts rather than using a narrow-ended meaning to categories these notions. I reflected this through my open-ended interview style which facilitated a natural conversational method of gathering data, which liberated the subject to reflect on their own experiences and knowledge - Resulting in a deep and meaningful understanding of the specific views. In regards to my research topic based around religious and non-religious views and experiences. I have definitely based my decision on the grounds that it is a personal endeavour. This is again reflected within the work of Creswell (2005) when he acknowledges the fact that researchers of this classification are capable of recognising their backgrounds and their own perceptions, as well as how their personal experiences position them. In my case, looking at and considering my experiences around theistic and atheistic debates has definitely become the driving force in undertaking this research task. With that being said, I was able to ignore my personal bias and develop an open discussion between all the religious and non-religious world-views. We can see how effective the employment of a qualitative research method proves as a form of data collection to this subject. By honing in on the individual experience and extracting those meanings, I was able to gather my findings to offer a detailed account of this individual's perspectives allowing outsiders to look in and sympathise through a deeper level of understanding.

Reference:
Creswell, JW 2005, Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative research, (2nd ed.), Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, pp.5-11.

Week 12 - Findings

When conducting my interview, my eyes were open to so much about religion. I interviewed a Christian woman who was able to articulate many aspects of her beliefs and experiences based around her beliefs. When relating my findings to the literature I was able to see to what degree one's beliefs justify their actions, this is accurate in terms of religious beliefs. I was also surprised about the types of constraints that were being mentioned. This connected to my literature when I made references to the work of Caroline Merchant and her position on the mechanistic and organic worldview, they both entailed a series of justifications for actions, as well as constraints. 

I constructed my findings in 3 sections, each section was based around how the data matched my questions. What did become most obvious to me was the importance of experience. I feel that in many cases our beliefs are validated through experiences, there is always some form of prominent external driving force. Through my findings and discussion, nothing has been concrete based on pure feeling or tuition. So I think that experience is an important factor in what shapes beliefs and what we do. 

One of my research sub-questions is in regards to judgement. This concept was identified within the interview but it is not something that directly correlates to the literature review. Regardless of that, I think that is in an important factor and one of the key models which influenced me to carry out this topic for research. What I found in the interview is that this sense of judgement came from a foundation of religious constraint.

It was a long and very interesting interview. I wish I had more time to ask many more questions, but one of my favourite things that came up in the interview was how strong the sense of self this individual has build, and how much of themselves they devote to genuinely building their character and helping others without expecting anything in return. 

Week 9 - Questions and Ethical Dilemmas

Here are a couple of questions that I am interested in exploring in the interviews I am conducting.

Firstly I want to ask about any tension or conflict the individual may be faced with in relation to their beliefs, and how this may impact the way they identify with the world. 

Another question I intend to ask is if the individual can identify any characteristics of what belief is to them, in general. 

I also want to ask a religious specific question grounded on superstition. I want to ask whether the interviewee is superstitious in anyway. In relation to this question I want to ask them how they evaluate the idea of success. I feel that a lot will be clarified for me in exploring this question, because I have an understanding that theistic and atheistic perspective in their own ways shape how success is achieved and defined.

I have a sense of constant paranoia about whether I am looking at the topic in general through a bias lens. There is also an ethical dilemma about whether or not some of my questions are breaching any boundaries of the interviewees. I have to be vigilant in assuring that the information being shared is completely confidential and anonymous. 

Week 8 - Research Assignment sample Introduction

The aims of the proposed research is to gain insight on people's beliefs and how they shape how we perceive life and possibly identify any constraints or boundaries people may have, in a contemporary setting due to said beliefs. I want to develop an understanding of why some people believe what they believe, by considering any influences, such as family and experiences, etc.

By looking at this subject through the scope of two perspectives, the purpose of the research is primarily based on personal interest and questioning. I would like to observe and highlight factors within a pair of controversial topics, which will avoid any bias or contradicting arguments.

I am anticipating that after conducting my research, a sense of commonality within between religious and non-religious views will become apparent. I am also hoping to offer a respected understanding of the worldviews of religious and atheistic people.

Week 5 - 'Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary thought and natural theology'.

A brief summary of a book called 'Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary though and natural theology'. I am looking at chapter 8: 'The concept of creation: reflections and reconsiderations'.

- Christianity insists that god is involved in the creation and evolution of the earth.

- 'How can the agency of creative action be transferred from God to the created order itself, without implying the conceptual redundancy of God?' (McGarth, AE 2011, p.233)

- Theists generally believe that God is the primary cause for any event.

- God is also understood to work through nature/natural causes in what is defined as a secondary matter.

- Debates whether God is violating the laws of nature by interfering with the process.

- Charles Darwin uncovered the laws of evolutionary biology.

- 'Either God is everywhere present in nature, or He is nowhere' ( McGarth, AE 2011, p.235). This is basically saying, the view is either black or white on whether God exists, not whether he exists but in no ways interferes in the progress of nature,

Reference:

McGrath, AE 2011, Darwinism and the divine. evolutionary thought and natural theology, Oxford ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell.

Week 4 - Evolution vs. Creationism (research assignment topic draft)

This week I was able to hone in on my topic and extract some questions for this stage. So far I am feeling good about what I currently have. Hopefully I can stick to these questions and methods. 

My primary question is: 

-How does theism and atheism influence one's outlook on existence?

My sub questions are: 

- What are people's perceptions of their beliefs? 

- Are we judged through our faith or lack of faith?

I am planning to employ two methods into my research, one of which is interviews, and the other is surveys. I have a few interviewees in mind, which fall under the individuals I am focussing on - Young adults, mature adults, atheists, and theists. 

Some key words that link to my research topic are: Beliefs, Knowledge, Circumstances, Difficulties, Influences, Worldview

Worldview is a very important key term within my research. When referencing this notion, it is primarily talking about how one perceives the world through their religious or scientific beliefs. This can encompass the idea of the reasons or constraints for peoples' decisions based on how they can make sense of the world, through questioning and reasoning. 

To me, this image depicts a material world created by our thoughts. This relates to my topic because truth is subjective to the individual and one will view our world differently to another, based on how they understand our existence. 

Week 3 - Basing my research around Creationism versus Evolution.

I've decided to tackle the life-long controversial dispute between creationism and evolution. I suppose this would come from a philosophical and sociological approach. I'm a little nervous about researching this topic because of the small scale intense debates I have been involved in, not ending too well. I have grown up in an Orthodox family, never understanding or believing in what my family believes in. I am interested to see how one is influenced by their beliefs and how both atheists and theists view our existence based on how they believe we have come to be. I intend to interview younger and older audiences. I'm targeting these individuals because I believe there would be an element of differentiation of influences within the different spectrum of time - as most people may know that science is becoming more and more influential in this day and age.

Below is a book I have skimmed over, 'Defending evolution':
 https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1NrssPvr7CwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=creation+evolution&ots=8fUKiUmSAi&sig=__I8NHUgj19RO7h4AzTBVez-08Q#v=onepage&q=creation%20evolution&f=false

You might enjoy this intense debate between Richard Dawkins and Wendy Wright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AekFGksvuDU