Pragmatism and non-native English speakers: Pragmatism paradigm for social science research

Abstract

The debate of application of research philosophy in social science research is trending. One side takes the positivism while another side depends on interpretivism, some other believes critical realism and the rest stand with pragmatism. Yet, the understanding on and interpretation of ontological argument and epistemological positioning of the pragmatism is criticized. Accordingly, the authors are motivated to critically argue that gap with empirical research evidence from management disciplines in Sri Lanka. The pragmatismfollowers contend that all beliefs, knowledge, and scientific concepts are provisional and defined by their practical application in ongoing experience, not by their correspondence with antecedent truth or reality (Carlsen and Mantere, 2007). Hence, recent social sciences studies are rooted in pragmatic ideas, practice-based approaches thereby harvesting the intersubjective knowledge. Thus, this chapter acknowledges the paradox of whether the definition of pragmatism could be universal or differs contextually research scholars.