of the research (heritage conservation and the historic built environment), the philosophical beliefs of the researcher and, the recognition of the actors in assigning multiple meanings, interpretations and assignment of significance of Darley Abbey Mills within a constructivist paradigm. 5.2 Epistemological Considerations Where ontology centres around the of reality, being and ‘nature truth’ (Azzopardi and Nash, 2014:153), epistemology focuses upon study of ‘The (Moon and Blackman, 2014:4), or as Lincoln, Lynham and Guba (2011) knowledge’ defines it as the process of thinking. The relationship between what we know and what we Moon and definition of epistemology appears to see’. Blackman’s (2014:5) build from that of Lincoln, Lynham and Guba when they suggest that ontology involves: aspects of the validity, scope, and methods of acquiring knowledge, such …all as, with what constitutes a knowledge claim; how knowledge can be produced or acquired; and how the extent of its applicability can be determined. Just as with ontology, there are many epistemological positions but as can be seen from Azzopardi and Nash, the defining component between them is the ‘diverse assumptions about the nature of knowledge and its justification (objectivity vs. the idea of objectivity vs. subjectivity raised by subjectivity)’ (2014:152). Forwarding Azzopardi and Nash (2014), with an objectivist epistemology, there is the assumption that reality exists outside of, or independent from the individual mind. Therefore, an objectivist would argue that can discover an objective that is ‘…they ‘truth’ empirically verifiable valid, generalizable, and independent of social thought and social (Moon and Blackman, 2014:5). Following the notion of conditions’ objectivity, the researcher would remain detached from their research subjects and, the values and interpretation would not bias the research (Moon and researcher’s Blackman 2014). Conversely, with a subjectivist epistemology, knowledge is what is accordant with perception of and understanding of reality, therefore, reality people’s is pluralistic rather than an objective truth (Moon and Blackman, 2014).
of the research (heritage conservation and the historic built environment), the philosophical beliefs of the researcher and, the recognition of the actors in assigning multiple meanings, interpretations and assignment of significance of Darley Abbey Mills within a constructivist paradigm. 5.2 Epistemological Considerations Where ontology centres around the ‘nature of reality, being and truth’ (Azzopardi and Nash, 2014:153), epistemology focuses upon ‘The study of knowledge’ (Moon and Blackman, 2014:4), or as Lincoln, Lynham and Guba (2011) defines it as the process of thinking. The relationship between what we know and what we see’. Moon and Blackman’s (2014:5) definition of epistemology appears to build from that of Lincoln, Lynham and Guba when they suggest that ontology involves: …all aspects of the validity, scope, and methods of acquiring knowledge, such as, with what constitutes a knowledge claim; how knowledge can be produced or acquired; and how the extent of its applicability can be determined. Just as with ontology, there are many epistemological positions but as can be seen from Azzopardi and Nash, the defining component between them is the ‘diverse assumptions about the nature of knowledge and its justification (objectivity vs. subjectivity)’ (2014:152). Forwarding the idea of objectivity vs. subjectivity raised by Azzopardi and Nash (2014), with an objectivist epistemology, there is the assumption that reality exists outside of, or independent from the individual mind. Therefore, an objectivist would argue that ‘…they can discover an objective ‘truth’ that is empirically verifiable valid, generalizable, and independent of social thought and social conditions’ (Moon and Blackman, 2014:5). Following the notion of objectivity, the researcher would remain detached from their research subjects and, the researcher’s values and interpretation would not bias the research (Moon and Blackman 2014). Conversely, with a subjectivist epistemology, knowledge is what is accordant with people’s perception of and understanding of reality, therefore, reality is pluralistic rather than an objective truth (Moon and Blackman, 2014).