Ontology

Within analytic philosophy, ontology refers to a branch of metaphysics that aims to dissect the underlying structure of reality. Ontology may also be concerned with the meaning of being or used to demarcate distinct positions towards the underlying nature of reality. It is this latter concept that is used here, with the aim to show how different positions towards reality may inform action research. An examination of ontology in action research is important because ontological positions inform the nature of the relationship between the subject and the object or between the knower and the known. How these relationships are conceived has a bearing on approaches and outcomes in conducting research.

Broadly speaking, ontological positions may be placed along a continuum. At one end lies an objectivist position, and at the other lies subjectivism. These positions differ most drastically from one another in their adherence to the assumption that reality exists independent of human input. Various ontological positions may be used to approach action research. However, two fundamental aims of action research influence the discussion of ontology: (1) the participatory role of the action researcher and (2) the quest of the action researcher to change the underlying structure of reality in an effort to promote justice, equality or democracy. These aims will be addressed in turn, and their methodological implications will be examined.

Realism is an ontological position which posits that reality exists independent of the human mind and is governed by causal laws and mechanisms. Under this view, inquiry aims to objectively describe entities in the actual world, whether observable or unobservable. There are many strands of realism, which can be distinguished from one another in terms of the extent to which reality is presumed to be directly observable. This position naturally aligns with objectivism, which generally aims to ascertain a singular truth about a given reality.

A relative ontological position assumes that reality is essentially constructed. These realities are characteristically social or individual and, as Émile Durkheim held, depend on social factors for their existence. This ontological position is widely embraced by constructivists. In this view, elements like thoughts, emotions or social structures like family or social groups are assumed to be as real as the meanings we associate with them. Therefore, entities in the world are mind dependent and relative to particular contexts. More radical relative views deny the existence of reality apart from human constructions. As such, the aim of inquiry under these views often entails underscoring how constructed realities act to shape human consciousness.

Scientific realism is a hybrid of realist and relative ontologies in that it treats physical and constructed entities as equally real. This position departs from realism in the extent to which reality is accessible via inquiry (i.e. epistemology). Within the social sciences, scientific realism is manifested as critical realism, as espoused by Roy Bhaskar (1986) in his work Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation. In A Realist Approach for Qualitative Research, Joseph Maxwell (2012) characterized this approach as retaining a realist position ontologically while embracing epistemological constructivism or relativism. For example, scientific or critical realism proclaims that the aim of inquiry should be to describe reality independent of human input while also recognizing that this effort is at best an approximated ideal. In other words, critical realism contends that human input indeed matters and contributes to the fallibility of knowledge about reality.

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