Philosophy of science and doctoral research design: The case of the Idea Puzzle software.
By Professor Ricardo Morais, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Porto Business School, Portugal
Dr. Morais is the creator of the Idea Puzzle software for research design. If you wish to try the Idea Puzzle software for free, please send an email to ricardo.morais@ideapuzzle.com.
The importance of philosophy of science
In 2024, one of the themes of the world’s longest-standing conference on graduate research education will be “Is it time to put the ‘Ph’ back in the PhD?”. In the past 15 years, I had the opportunity to confirm the pertinence of this theme by lecturing over 350 webinars/seminars on ‘Philosophy of Science and Doctoral Research Design’ to more than 12.000 PhD candidates, doctoral supervisors, and research methods/skills lecturers in 103 universities from 27 countries. To my surprise, most PhD candidates who attended my webinars/seminars had never taken a course on philosophy of science. This is a paradox because PhD stands for “Doctor of Philosophy”. And if more than 5000 universities offer PhD programs, it is likely that this paradox is global.
In 2008, the Journal of Management Inquiry published an article by Eric Abrahamson claiming that most PhD programs do not offer a course on philosophy of science. In 2018, Nature published an article by Gundula Bosch calling for more training of PhD candidates as critical thinkers, not just specialists.
My first encounter with philosophy of science
In 1998, I enrolled in a PhD program in Management at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. My initial research proposal was focused on the relationship between strategic alliances and firm internationalisation. As a Portuguese citizen in Finland, I planned to operationalise such a relationship with a sample of alliances between Portuguese and Finnish firms. To my surprise, the national agencies for international trade and foreign direct investment in both countries failed to identify a single alliance between a Portuguese and a Finnish firm. I thus learned the hard way that lack of data in the second year of your PhD can force you to change the research topic and lose the literature review from the first year.
Luckly, I registered for an elective course on philosophy of science that gave a new impetus to my PhD. In that course, professor Veli Verronen asked me a critical synthesis of two books: ‘Whys and Ways of Science’ by Peter J. Riggs, and ‘Multiple Discovery’ by D. Lamb and S. M. Easton. That was my first encounter with philosophy of science and the beginning of my fascination with the strengths and weaknesses of scientific method. In that course I learned, among other things, that scientific claims cannot be detached from perennial debates in philosophy of science such as the theory-ladenness of observation, paradigm incommensurability, and the underdetermination of theory by data. More generally, I understood the importance of integrating epistemology (nature of knowledge), methodology (nature of research), ontology (nature of reality), and axiology (nature of values) into a coherent whole.
Idea Puzzle theoretical framework for research design
Using the Idea Puzzle
Credit: Elsa Caetano
After my PhD, I started lecturing research design and encountered another challenge. If PhD candidates do not think their method in connection with their literature review and data collection, it becomes difficult to judge the overall research design. In terms of calendar, however, it does happen that PhD candidates attend a course on research methods well before they decide their research topic or sample of evidence. I thus created the Idea Puzzle theoretical framework for research design to help PhD candidates integrate the theory, method, data, rhetoric, and authorship of a research project at any point in time (video below).
Introduction to the Idea Puzzle theoretical framework for research design:
In particular, the theoretical framing of a research project (epistemology) is depicted on the left side of the triangle as: 1) two keywords in a non-tautological relationship; 2) two opposing streams of thought for critical synthesis; 3) a research gap from previous conclusions; 4) a research question or hypothesis from five levels of knowledge depth; and 5) current answers or results as the state of the science.
On the other hand, the methodological framing of a research project (methodology) is depicted on the bottom side of the triangle as: 6) a meta philosophical stance from a matrix of four; 7) a research strategy from one of three meta toolboxes; 8) complementary data collection techniques; 9) data analysis techniques, including research software; and 10) one of three sets of incommensurable quality criteria.
The empirical framing of a research project (ontology) is depicted on the right side of the triangle as: 11) a unit of analysis i.e. entity or process; 12) a level of analysis i.e. scale; 13) nature of data as qualitative or quantitative; 14) origin of data as primary or secondary; and 15) an analytical or statistical sample.
The rhetoric framing of a research project (axiology) is depicted on the top inner side of the triangle as: 16) the study’s practical and ethical implications i.e. pathos; 17) quasi-inductive, hypothetic-deductive, or abductive logic i.e. logos; as well as 18) theoretical, methodological, and empirical limitations i.e. ethos.
Finally, the authorial framing of a research project (axiology) is depicted on the bottom inner side of the triangle as: 19) first-hand experience of the empirical phenomenon i.e. wisdom; 20) support network i.e. trust; and 21) economic resources i.e. funding and time.
The Idea Puzzle theoretical framework for research design thus aims to put the ‘Ph’ back in the PhD by making explicit the epistemological, methodological, ontological, and axiological assumptions of a research project.
Idea Puzzle software for research design
In 2008, the Idea Puzzle theoretical framework for research design was digitalised and gamified to make it accessible worldwide. The Idea Puzzle software is a decision-making tool that helps PhD candidates improve the coherence of a research proposal, article, or thesis in the light of philosophy of science. It also helps review the strengths and weaknesses of a research project in any field of knowledge. To date, it has helped design more than 7000 research projects worldwide.
The Idea Puzzle software poses 21 questions, helps answer them, and allows the self-evaluation of each answer in terms of decision-making status. The help function of the Idea Puzzle software includes examples of research designs in different fields of knowledge that have won the Idea Puzzle Prize as well as definitions, introductions, tips, and bibliography. The output of the Idea Puzzle software is a research design with 21 answers, an overall score, and a coloured jigsaw puzzle of progress that can be shared in PDF or in Word.
In 2023, the Idea Puzzle software was shortlisted for SAGE £15k Concept Grant, from a total of 89 research software tools. The jury considered the Idea Puzzle theoretical framework of 21 decisions unique and praised the way the Idea Puzzle software helps PhD candidates go through the process of developing their research (video below).
Tutorial video of the Idea Puzzle software for research design:
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