The primacy of ontology: a philosophical basis for research on religion in prison

Irfan, Lamia, Quraishi, Muzammil, Schneuwly Purdie, Mallory and Wilkinson, Matthew 2022. The primacy of ontology: a philosophical basis for research on religion in prison. Journal of Critical Realism 21 (2) , pp. 145-169. 10.1080/14767430.2021.2007463

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Abstract

This paper suggests philosophical foundations for mixed methods research based on the philosophy of critical realism. In particular, it suggests that the critical realist idea of the primacy of ontology helps bridge the apparent paradigmatic gap between qualitative and quantitative research. It illustrates this foundational idea by showing why and how a multi-disciplinary team used a mixed methods approach to understand the significance of religion in prison through a multi-site study of religious conversion to Islam in prison and how this gives a better account than a single method approach. The mixed method research design used in the project sets out a new way of mapping and understanding religious conversion and differences within a faith group that draws on the emancipatory potential of critical realist thought.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Additional Information:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	1476-7430
Funders:	The Dawes Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 March 2022
Date of Acceptance:	27 December 2021
Last Modified:	12 May 2023 11:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/148558

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