![]() ![]() ![]() Social scientists, interested in assessing objective reality (or at least reduced subjectivity), use a scientific method to collect empirical evidence. Any ontological investigation for a critical theorist will thus have to help unearth these inequities.Įpistemology looks at how we come to know a chosen phenomenon and thus how researchers study this phenomenon. Thus, they believe that power differences are at the base of social transactions (Scotland, 2012). ![]() Researchers in this area explore how social structures create power inequalities and injustices. Critical theorists focus particularly on social injustices and inequalities in life. If the social scientists take a deterministic view of human behavior, interpretivists thrive in a person’s free will. In contrast and as a reaction to the social scientific perspective, interpretive researchers argue that the observer and the observed are subjective and the most important lessons are in how they co-create meaning. Social scientific ontology provides clarity and direction due to its rigorous questioning of plausibility and reduction of subjectivity. Researchers from this perspective use a deductive approach and are keen to explain and predict phenomena. In the social scientific perspective, the researcher views the world objectively in that there is a world outside of us that can be systematically studied. Ontology is the study of the researcher’s orientation to reality. Finally, we offer traditional integration of the three approaches and also alternate methodological perspectives to study intercultural issues from a non-Western lens. Then, for each methodological perspective, common methods and types of data collected and some exemplars are identified. First, the ontological, epistemological, and axiological assumptions underlying each of these methodological perspectives are explored. The purpose of this article is to describe, and explore integration of, the three main methodological perspectives in studying intercultural communication issues: social scientific, interpretive, and critical. Our worldview not only shapes what we see as an interesting problem to study but also the methodology we use to study the problem. In India, the same set of behaviors among children is seen as what children tend to do, as normal and not as a problem. For example, behaviors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are seen as a problem in the United States, and there are medications to solve the problem. Our worldview defines if an issue is a problem or not and if we need to come up with a solution. Our worldview shapes what is “interesting” to a particular audience, what is considered a problem, what problem is interesting to study, and whether the goal of studying a problem is to analyze the problem, to analyze and solve the problem, or to analyze, solve, and implement the solution. However, there are creative possibilities for combining these approaches that have potential for fuller understanding of intercultural communication. Most scholars utilize one of these primary approaches given the consistency with their world views, theories, and research training. Critical scholars seek to unmask domination and inequality. From this perspective, intercultural communication involves inequalities that can be attributed to power and distortions created from (mis)use of this power. Critical methods often involve qualitative data collection and research approaches such as interviews and textual critique. From this perspective, intercultural communication and meaning is created through interaction, and we seek to understand these meanings by exploring the perspectives of people who participate as members of cultural communities. Interpretive methods often involve qualitative data collection and research approaches such as interviews and ethnographic observation. From this perspective, intercultural communication is seen as patterns of interaction, and we seek to explain and understand these patterns through clear measurement and identification of key independent variables. Social scientific methods often involve quantitative data collection and research approaches such as surveys and experiments. ![]() Each of these approaches reflects different philosophical assumptions about the world and how we come to know it. Research on intercultural communication is conducted using primarily three different methodological approaches: social scientific, interpretive, and critical. ![]()
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