Nursing Research Q26
Which of the following are consistent with the constructivist paradigm? Select all that apply.
A. Subjectivism is valued.
B. Natural laws exist.
C. Time and place are important.
D. Generalizability is valued.
E. Knowledge is gained through observable facts.
Correct Answers: A, C
Constructivism implies that reality is constructed through human interaction. Knowledge is a human product and is socially and culturally constructed. Individuals create meaning through their interactions with each other and with the environment in which they live. Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in the process of knowledge construction and accumulation.
Option A: In social constructivism, human interests are important for research purposes and knowledge is constructed through social interaction. Such knowledge is shared rather than an individual experience. According to constructivists, reality is a subjective creation. There is no single reality. Race, for example, is a social construct. Claiming that people are different based on the skin of their color is a (subjective) social construct.
Option B: Constructivist research programs specifically study the status of ‘knowledge’ (Tsoukas 2005), the relation to the ‘world’ (Goodman 1987), and the process of the scientific generation of knowledge (Knorr Cetina 2002), thus reflecting research as a construction process, which inherently implies epistemological considerations.
Option C: Constructivism implies that reality is constructed through human interaction. Knowledge is a human product and is socially and culturally constructed. Individuals create meaning through their interactions with each other and with the environment in which they live. Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in the process of knowledge construction and accumulation.
Option D: The constructivist programs question a concept of ‘reality as something that is ‘objectively given’, instead of focusing on the construction processes implied in the creation, establishment, and stabilization of ‘reality. This explains why constructivist perspectives imply ontological considerations, as embedded in (social) practice itself.
Option E: Positivism and constructivism are not the same. Both are epistemologies that present a different idea of what constitutes knowledge. However, positivism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes that knowledge should be gained through observable and measurable facts, whereas constructivism states that reality is a social construct.