Abstract
Philosophy is a science of knowledge, and it concentrates on epistemology, ontology, axiology, and methodology. However, researchers have understated the role of philosophy, even though it is very interwoven with research. This chapter is to position data analysis in philosophy and show its epistemological and ontological underpinnings using the philosophy of perception. The methods are a desk study, literature reviews, and lecture notes. Traditionally, the definition of knowledge is ‘justified true belief' (JTB). The JTB is placed in the context of empiricism, rationalism, and/or dualism. These are further linked to ontological materialism, idealism, and dualism. The chapter has tried to draw a relationship with perception's direct realism, indirect realism, and dualism respectively. In conclusion, knowledge is justified by good evidence (empiricism) and reason (rationalism). The chapter recommends researchers utilise the philosophy of the sciences in order to improve on their research.
Top2. Epistemology Of Data Analysis - What Is Knowledge?
An epistemology is a scientific study of knowledge; the study of the theory of knowledge; or the science of knowledge. It deals with the main issue of mind possession of knowledge. The root words of epistemology are in Greek “episteme” meaning knowledge, and “logia [logos]” referring to science, study, doctrine, or giving an account (Steup & Neta, 2020; Kivunja & Kuyini, 2017). Epistemology tries to answer the most critical question in philosophy, that is, how do we know what we know (L’Amour, n.d.). This implies that under epistemology, the concept “knowledge” is contested in terms of what it means to be knowledge, accounts for knowledge, or what can be known (Pojman, 2001). By doing so, epistemology shows the linkages between the knower (researcher) and the known (research object). There is a separation between the epistemic subject (knower) and the epistemic object (known); that is, a distinction between the knower and the known (Fenstermacher, 1994). For knowledge to occur and the mind to possess it, earlier philosophers set three conditions: justification, truth, and belief. These conditions form the traditional theory of knowledge, or tripartite theory of knowledge (Jenkins & Steup, 2017). Figure 1 shows the traditional definition of knowledge in an answer to the question: what is knowledge? Hence, knowledge is justified by true belief [JTB]. That is, the belief has to be justified and it has to be true.
Figure 1. Diagrammatic representation of the tripartite theory of knowledge