Epistemology and Ontology

Ontology examines the nature of reality and what is real. Whereas epistemology examines the nature of how you can examine reality.

Ontology examines the question of “What is reality”

A couple of ontologies that exist are firstly the belief that;

• There is only one reality, 
• There are more than one reality 
• That reality is constantly changing and needs to be negotiated and interpreted.

Epistemology  addresses the question of “how can i know reality”

An example of some epistemologies are the belief that;

• Knowledge can be measured (using reliable designs and tools
• Reality needs to be interpreted 
• Knowledge should be examined using the best tools available

Ontology + Epistemology = Research Paradigm

There are also a number of research paradigms but the most common ones are;

• Positivism
• Constructivism
• Pragmatism

	Positivism	Contructivism	Pragmatism
Ontology	One single reality or truth.	Multiple realities	Reality is constantly negotiated, debated and/or interpreted
Epistemology	Knowledge can be measured	Knowledge needs to be interpreted	Knowledge should be examined using best tools available to solve the problem.

By establishing your research paradigm you will be able establish the approach or methodology that will best suited to examine the knowledge that you are interested in.