PHILOSOPHY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDIESKaja BrankovIgor IvakoviIvan Zupi

Ljubljana, June 2011

Rejection of methodological exclusiveness

Against positivist orthodoxy

Academics cannot always rely only on empiricism

Everything cannot be measured

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*Authentic knowledge is based on sense, experience and positive verification

Society undergoes three phases in its quest for the truth: (1) the theological, (2) the metaphysical, and (3) the positive

Using scientific methods to uncover the laws according to which physical and human events occur

*Positivists about history: It analyses specific eventIt cannot be generalizedIt cannot predict events It cannot be objective, because historian is a member of society

Conclusion: HISTORIAN IS NOT A SCIENTIST!

Empiricism - Leopold von Ranke: wie es eigentlich gewesen

Methodological decision depends on:Nature of researchThe conditions under which research is carried out (time, money ..)When observing society we shouldnt exclude human cultural norms, values, symbols, and social processes viewed from a subjective perspective *

Edward Hallett Carr contended that history is a social science, not an art Historians, like scientists, seek generalizations that help to broaden the understanding of one's subjectHistorical generalizations were often related to lessons to be learned from other historical occurrencesScientists are not purely neutral observers, but have a reciprocal relationship with the objects under their study just like historiansBack to Kant and Hegel *

Paul Feyerabend1975: Against MethodEven in the natural sciences researchers often changed what they were doing and how they did things. A single prescriptive scientific method would limit the activities of scientists, and hence restrict scientific progressSuccessful science require a state of epistemological anarchy.

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What methodological pluralism?Are methods used appropriate?Demarkation problemThe nature of social realityGlobal financial crisis*

Ziliak & McCloskey, 1996: 182 full-length papers published in the 1980s in the American Economic Review 70% did not distinguish economic from statistical significanceZiliak & McCloskey, 2008: The practice got worse in the 90s

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*Is mainstream economic research paradigm ripe for overthrow?

*What distinguishes good from bad in learned discourse is not the adoption of a particular methodology, but the earnest and intelligent attempt to contribute to a conversation You can tell whether [an argument] is persuasive only by thinking about it and talking about it with other thoughtful people. Not all regression analyses are more persuasive than all moral arguments; not all controlled experiments are more persuasive than all introspections.

(McCloskey 1998, The Rhetoric of Economics)

Overreliance on any one method can lead to a limited understanding of the phenomena of interest.Methodological pluralism contributes to a greater understanding of the topic.*

*Environmental management is becoming more complex :Multifaceted nature of environmental protection and promotionEnvironmental policyStakeholders pressureMultidisciplinary and interdisciplinary provision of environmental protectionTransformation of complexity into a pluralistic methodological approach:Diversity of qualitative and quantitative methodsIntegration of qualitative and quantitative research methodsMultidisciplinary approaches to research methodologyFacilitates dissemination and implementation of research results and fosters improvements in environmental management:Environmental protectionEnvironmental promotionEmployee educationEnvironmental policyStakeholders integrationAdequate application of a pluralistic methodology leads to advanced research results in environmental managementDeeper, broader, multidimensionalRealistic, practicalComprehensiveContext-relatedUnexpected results

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Conclusion environmental management research should demonstrate a balance of diverse methodological paradigmIncreased methodological pluralism in environmental management research requires:Open-mindedness and collaboration between researchers using qualitative and quantitative approachesEducation for researchers, students, managers on the use, application and integration of both qualitative and quantitative methods. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Just as machines that were originally created for separate functions such as printing, faxing, scanning, and copying have been combined into a single integrated technological unit, so too methods that were originally created as distinct, stand-alone approaches can now be combined into more sophisticated and multifunctional designs.*

Davis, J. B. 2006 - The turn in economics: neoclassical dominance to mainstream pluralism?; ournal of Institutional EconomicsEditorial. (2011). Methodological pluralism in health communication research. Patient Education and Counseling, 82 (2011).Fullbrook E. (ed) 2009 - Ontology and Economics: Tony Lawson and his criticsFullbrook E. (ed) 2008 - Pluralist EconomicsLawson, T. 2009 - The current economic crisis: its nature and the course of academic economics; Cambridge Journal of EconomicsLawson, T. 2006 - The nature of heterodox economics; Cambridge Journal of EconomicsLawson, T. 1997 - Economics and Reality, London and New York: Routledge

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