Chapter 9: Methods of Scholarship from the Humanities and Philosophy

In this final chapter on potential research methods for a professional practice dissertation, we will explore two families of research methods that are not always covered in the research courses of professional practice doctoral programs. In fact, they are not always covered in the research Ph.D. programs of many fields outside the humanities and philosophy. In the Western intellectual tradition the Enlightenment was a watershed that put empiricism and the scientific method at the core of our search for new knowledge. And, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the status of the “scientific approach” was further enhanced by the astounding success of the natural sciences in making basic discoveries. The equally amazing success in converting those basic discoveries into technological advances that enhanced the capacity of humans to control their environment and produce goods and services that improved our living conditions, is yet another reason for the enduring appeal of the scientific method as the major source of new knowledge and understanding. When the social sciences such as sociology and psychology emerged in the nineteenth century there was considerable pressure to emulate the very successful natural sciences. Similarly, as professional practice fields like social work and counseling psychology emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was natural for some to think of them as equivalent to technical fields like engineering but with a focus on humans instead of steam boilers or electrical systems. The term “social engineering” was even used to describe what these new professions, based on the “human sciences,” did.