Methodological Pluralism Research Articles

The new intellectual history versus the history of ideas: some critical simplifications

This research article presents the criticisms that intellectual history, in its version of history of political languages, makes to the history of ideas. The background of both historiographies is presented and it analyzes how the criticism made by the intellectual history incurs in theoretical simplifications, where the history of ideas is reduced to the capture of the peculiarity and originality of ideas in Latin America, neglecting its political purposes, its commitment to the knowledge of the region and its commitment to decolonization and emancipation. It is argued that the type of analysis carried out by intellectual history questions the philosophical character and depoliticizes the history of ideas. It is concluded that, although the approach to the history of political languages allows the analysis of an interesting set of problems, it is not a matter of one historiographic model being replaced by another, but of the coexistence of epistemic and methodological pluralism. The methodology used for the research is textual hermeneutics.

Зависимые общества в российском корпоративном праве

Introduction. The norms on dependent and subsidiary companies were excluded from the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, they remained in fact and legally fixed in special laws. Dependency relationships generate certain obligations for business entities. Purpose. To analyze the existing forms of dependence of economic societies, to identify the practical significance of dependence relations and their consequences. Methodology. As the methodological basis of the research, the general principles of scientific cognition (comprehensiveness, consistency, objectivity, methodological pluralism), the general philosophical method (dialectical), general scientific methods of cognition (comparison, ascent from the abstract to the particular), general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, generalization, classification, abstraction), specially-legal methods (formal legal, method of interpretation of legal norms, dogmatic). Results. As a result of the conducted research, various forms of dependence of business entities were analyzed, the practical significance of dependence relations, obligations and consequences of establishing dependence relations for companies, their participants, and management bodies were revealed. Conclusion. This article is of interest to the scientific community because it forms and systematizes the theoretical basis for further research on the problems of dependent economic societies.

Epistemology in Heterodox Economics?

The epistemology of Heterodox Economics has been described as a type of methodological pluralism where its relativism is taken as consistent with new versions of science. However, methodological pluralism has severe drawbacks as a means of inquiry. Whereas Economics is often understood in positivist terms as a closed set, Heterodox Economics includes additional concepts and methods. As an open set of ideas, Heterodox Economics is a means to doubt or to not-know and comprises Einfühlung or the creative intuition for the introduction of new ideas into the epistemology of Economics.

Генезис взглядов на негативные (отрицательные) обязательства в отечественной цивилистике

Introduction. Negative obligations are the kind of civil obligations that have caused a lively scientific discussion for several centuries in a row, but at the same time they remain extremely poorly researched. Most civil scientists touch upon the problem of negative obligations in general terms, speaking about the legal nature of obligations or their classification. In the domestic science of civil law, there are still no large-scale and comprehensive studies that would be devoted to the specific features of negative obligations. To form and systematize the theoretical basis for further research on negative obligations, it is necessary to generalize the views already expressed in the scientific environment and group them by scientific schools. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to review, analyze and classify the scientific positions of domestic civil scientists of the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern periods on the problem of the legal nature of negative civil obligations. In addition, the authors of the article aim to trace the genesis of the scientific discussion on the issue of negative commitments. Methodology. The general principles of scientific knowledge (comprehensiveness, consistency, objectivity, methodological pluralism), the general philosophical method (dialectical), general scientific methods of cognition (comparison, ascent from the abstract to the particular), general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction , generalization, classification, abstraction), special legal methods (formal legal, comparative legal, method of interpreting legal norms, dogmatic). Results. As a result of the study, the genesis of the scientific discussion on the problem of negative obligations was investigated. It was concluded that it was in the Soviet civil law that there was a division of the views of scientists on this issue into several legal schools. The authors propose to distinguish three schools of law on the problem of the legal nature of negative obligations. The authors substantiated the position on the independent nature of negative obligations and the possibility of the existence of net negative obligations (obligations where the debtor is obliged only to refrain from acting) in civil circulation. Conclusion. This article is of interest to the scientific community, since it forms and systematizes the theoretical basis for further research on the problem of negative obligations.

Confucian philosophy of family: interpretation or justification?

ABSTRACT During the past decade, Si Xiao, Xianglong Zhang, Xiangcheng Sun and others have proposed a Confucian Philosophy of Family (CPF) movement as a response to issues in contemporary China. These issues include high divorce rates, low birth rates, caring for seniors, and other related issues. This proposal is an attempt to modernize traditional Confucianism and to make it relevant in contemporary China. In this paper I argue that this attempt faces external and internal challenges. The external challenges to CPF include the trademarks of contemporary philosophy, such as the methodological naturalism, epistemic pluralism and ethical individualism. Furthermore, there are three competing readings of CPF, which poses its own internal challenge to CPF. CPF scholars have failed to clarify if they are engaged in a project of interpretation, which is to elaborate the idea of family in the Confucian tradition, or as a project of justification, which is to justify Confucian understanding of family as a universal and objective value.

РАЗВИТИЕ РОССИЙСКОЙ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОЙ ГЕОГРАФИИ: СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ВЫЗОВЫ И ОПЫТ ПРОШЛОГО

The problems of science and its development (including the identification of development determinants, possibilities, and priorities) appear to be particularly significant in modern Russia. The specific features of Russian space (characterized by vastness, heterogeneity, and non-static character) predetermine a permanent objective demand for diversified geographical knowledge, including its socio-economic (human) component. The article aims to identify challenges and problematic situations that came to face the community of Russian geographers-social scientists in the spring of 2022 (in theoretical and conceptual, scientific and applied, educational and organizational aspects) as well as to analyze and assess the development potential of domestic socio-economic geography. This should be done based on the understanding of the experience and lessons of its ‘historical track,’ first of all, the evolution of ideas and approaches in the 20th century, a complicated period, characterized by numerous transformations, crises, and cataclysms. The information and factual scientific material presented in the article includes key publications of Russian economic geographers published in the period from the early 1920s to the mid-1990s in two leading high-status geographical periodicals, the oldest in Russia – Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society and Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya (Proceedings of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Geographical Series). Based on the analysis of these periodicals, it is established that reliance on the domestic economic and geographical intellectual and ‘behavioral’ heritage provides the professional research community with guidelines in solving most of the current and potential tasks facing it. The paper shows that the development of Russian human geography can be driven by a significant increase in its practical orientation, complemented by an emphasis on ‘Russia-centered’ research, while maintaining structural, thematic, and methodological pluralism of research works, as well as involvement in international collaborations.

Invoking Systemic Ideals or Systemic Rules? Jurisdiction in WTO and Investor-State Dispute Settlement

How do international economic adjudicators approach the question of systemic integration? Systemic integration could be a powerful tool in the defragmentation of the international legal order. Yet, it is a complex tool, coalescing between a legal rule of interpretation and normative ideal of a coherent international legal order. By undertaking an empirical and doctrinal review of the decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, the paper illustrates both the underutilisation and inconsistent application of the principle within the reasoning of those adjudicators. The paper analyses how international economic law adjudicators attempt (or perhaps fail) to define the indeterminate legal authority of systemic integration. What is contributing to this methodological pluralism in the application of systemic integration? The paper investigates both the competing ‘law-applying’ or ‘law-making’ adjudicative functions and the limitations of tribunal jurisdiction as possible explanations for the competing perceptions of the role of systemic integration in international economic dispute resolution. The underutilisation and inconsistency of systemic integration in the WTO and investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms highlights the need to bridge the gap, both theoretically and doctrinally, in understanding how systemic ideals fit within legal rules.

An assessment of the policy and regulatory outcome by the telecom services users: The emerging economy study

Outcome-based policy evaluation is an established practice in the distributive and redistributive public policies. Such practices are not evident for competitive regulatory policies of telecom, especially in India. This study bridges this research gap by carrying out an outcome-based evaluation of telecom policy and highlighting the importance of such evaluation. Using the methodological pluralism model from Schalock (2002), the outcome of India’s telecom policies was evaluated. Outcome measures from the vision statement of telecom policy were appraised by telecom users by responding to a structured questionnaire-based survey. Factor analysis confirmed that our survey instrument measured the identified policy outcomes. Regression analysis confirmed that users’ appraisal was based on their experiences of telecom services. Against five policy outcome measures, the survey respondents agreed on the achievement of affordability of services: 68.9% of the respondents found telecom services not secure; 74.7% of the survey respondents indicated an issue with quality; 55.6% of the respondents did not agree that the services are available anytime, anywhere. Outcome measures like telephone density (teledensity) as adopted by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are not the true representative of policy outcome. A multistakeholder policy evaluation will reveal the actual policy outcomes. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) should establish a standardized framework for outcome-based policy evaluation to address such issues.

Философия управления как методологическая основа развития управленческого сознания в современном обществе

Modern management is characterized by the absence of generalizing theories, which leads to methodological pluralism, a variety of approaches, concepts and views. In this case, philosophy in management is understood as a practical tool for solving managerial problems using the managerial consciousness of managers. The relevance of this topic makes it possible, on the one hand, to identify in the theoretical and methodological plan a “new problem field” in the philosophy of management - approaches and concepts devoted to the philosophy of managerial consciousness, and on the other hand, we are talking about the practical component of this form of public consciousness - the management consciousness necessary for managers to make and implement managerial decisions. The practical component of the work is aimed at introducing the scientific category “management consciousness” and the “management philosophy”, which contribute to a deep analysis of the nature and essence of governance, the philosophy of governance, and the formation of a “new form of social consciousness”. This research is a contribution to the methodological base of social philosophy, philosophy of management, theory of management and management, sociology of management.

Interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism of jurisprudence

Interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism of jurisprudence

Measurement and causal identification in constitutional law: A reply to Niels Petersen and Konstantin Chatziathanasiou

Abstract The past few decades have seen a trend toward empirical constitutional law scholarship. In a new article, Niels Petersen and Konstantin Chatziathanasiou take stock of this emerging field and suggest that this body of research may be all “smoke and mirrors.” They focus on explaining two well-documented potential problems with empirical research using observational data—omitted variable bias and measurement error—and argue that these problems are severe enough to call into question the growing body of cross-national research on the spread and effect of constitutional provisions. But while Petersen and Chatziathanasiou’s article points out genuine obstacles for empirical research in constitutional law, it fails to accurately document the way that these issues have been explained and addressed by the existing literature. In this reply, we make four points about the state of the empirical literature in comparative constitutional studies. First, we explain that the problems identified by Petersen and Chatziathanasiou have already been extensively documented and are the subject of ongoing conversation among those working in the field. Second, we describe the work that researchers have done to address these problems. Third, we argue that the methodological pluralism that Petersen and Chatziathanasiou advocate for as a way forward for the field is already well underway. Finally, we suggest that evaluating an entire literature, like Petersen and Chatziathanasiou seek to do in their article, is best done through the use of a “systematic review,” to ensure that the evaluation will offer a fair characterization of the field.

On disruption and leximetrics: A reply to Niels Petersen and Konstantin Chatziathanasiou

Abstract We explore the apparent disruption of legal scholarship wrought by leximetrics—variable-oriented, predictive methods. We view the skepticism surrounding leximetrics as healthy, in that it focuses attention on some central inferential challenges relevant to most empirical methods. Scholarly anxiety may be a natural by-product of this disruption, as scholars navigate the rise and fall in popularity of various ideas and approaches. Some of this anxiety is related to a perceived hierarchy of methodological approaches in social science. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that broadminded, ecumenical tastes will prevail. One likely future for legal scholars is similar to that of political science, whose practitioners have largely embraced methodological pluralism, and maintained the value of case-oriented research.

THE CONCEPT OF «METHODOLOGY» IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DISCIPLINE ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Nowadays, students are future professionals, and they can choose a research activity. Modern students need to know the peculiarities of the scientific research organization because the future of science depends on their level of knowledge. In the process of studying, university students master the discipline “Methods and organization of scientific research”. In the context of this discipline, they learn to think scientifically, acquire new knowledge while writing term papers and dissertations, master scientific methods. The study of the discipline also involves the assimilation of scientific terms. Such terms are, in particular, method and methodology. The article demonstrates the contradictory views of scientists on the concept of methodology. It is confirmed that the concept of methodology is not fully clarified, and students often cannot distinguish between the concepts of a method and methodology. The purpose of the article is to explain the concept of methodology. The essence of the concept of methodology as a doctrine of methods, as well as a system of methods is substantiated. The paper also explains the relevance of the methodology for practical activities related to modern technologies, such as social communications, and justifies the importance of the methodology for science. Scientific knowledge is based on philosophical, general scientific, interdisciplinary and special methodology. In the article the methodology of science, the methodology of scientific research and the methodology of scientific activity are considered as synonyms; we have also argued that the notions approach, technique, method and manner are synonymous. A small comparison of science and philosophy is made, that determines the role of philosophical methodology for science and explains the role of a new philosophical synergetic worldview for the development of science. The article is dominated by the view of the expediency of modern methodological pluralism.
 Keywords: science; philosophy; methodology; method; synergetic; methodological pluralism; knowledge; scientific research.

Offsite Manufacturing Research: A Systematic Review of Methodologies Used

Debates regarding research methodologies in construction, engineering and management (CEM) literature are long-standing. However, in the growing literature on offsite manufacturing (OSM), such debates are lacking and some studies conflate different components of research methodologies such as research design, methods, data sources, data types, and analytical techniques. This study examines the components of research methodologies reported in the OSM literature and how they compare with the established relationships between the key components of research methodologies. We analyse 74 articles on OSM sampled from 26 journals and find that quantitative methods, case studies, primary data, bibliometric database and modelling are the most preferred methodological approaches. The methodological components reported also cohere with established relationships between components of research methodology, other than the relationship between research methods and data sources. The findings reveal a growing hybridisation of research designs, data sources and analytical techniques, which suggests that methodological plurality is emerging in the OSM literature. This re-echoes concerns regarding the dominance of quantitative methods and the limited use of theory in CEM research, and consequently highlights the need for diversity in methodologies to expand knowledge boundaries.

ВЛАСТЬ ГОСУДАРСТВА КАК ЦИВИЛИЗАЦИОННАЯ ДОМИНАНТА В РОССИИ: К РЕСУРСАМ МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ПЛЮРАЛИЗМА

The article is devoted to the study of the power of the state - the dominant actor in the institutional complex of the Russian local civilization. In a conceptual way, the research program is substantiated, constructed on the basis of the principle of methodological pluralism, synthesis of achievements of general legal theory and other areas of socio-humanitarian knowledge. Taking into account the achievements of the civilizational approach to the typology of state and law, the author actualizes the socio-psychological assessments of state power as the dominant subject of public law in Russia.

Innovative Dynamic Matrix-Type Learning Environment Based on the Example of the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation, Herzen University, Russia

The paper examines an innovative cluster-type matrix model for training interpreters and translators, based on recent developments in text and pragmatics theory, as well as on the scenario approach in education. The aim is to create a single, multifaceted space for open interpreter and translator training with an anthropological focus, drawing on the achievements in Russian teaching culture and best world practices, including a system of feedback from employers, to enable a flexible response to the needs of the society. To achieve the aim, an innovative interactive system of intensive interpreter and translator training has been developed based on a cluster principle and continuous education quality monitoring. At the heart of the system are a scenario strategy and a text typology approach. What is unique about the St Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation (SCIT)’s project is the fact that it is not just an educational programme or a system or an algorithm, but a dynamic matrix-type learning environment.It is a flexible model for professional retraining that presupposes a range of basic skills and can fill any gaps in the general translators’ competence and current performance by applying the professional environment matrix. The cluster approach provides a combination of in-person, distant and independent learning components, as well as increased transparency of the educational and professional spaces, opening up future employment prospects.The ‘diffuse matrix’ version of the innovative matrix principle in education underlies the diversity of methods employed by SCIT: methodological pluralism, dominant in the process of training, implies a combination of diverse techniques developed by different authors for the matrix, making it most flexible and the whole approach – customer tailored. It should be pointed out that the external diversity is strictly regulated and targeted by the project’s creators by means of a monitoring mechanism.The future of the model is seen in its use in Russia and other countries to train highly professional interpreters and translators in other spheres (for example, audiovisual translation). It could also be used at the final stage of higher vocational training; as a standard mechanism for improving professional skills and retraining; as well as a social harmonising element (creating new links among academic, educational, and professional activities).

A critical note on the scientific conception of economics: claiming for a methodological pluralism

Opponents of mainstream economics have not yet called attention to the lack of in-depth examination of the general scientific conception of modern economics. However, economic science cannot consistently fulfil the epistemological and ontological requirements of the scientific standards underlying this conception. What can be scientifically recognized as true cannot be answered, neither through the actual ontological structure of the object of observation nor through a methodological demarcation. These limitations necessarily lead to the claim for both a pragmatic and a radical methodological pluralism.

Chemistry and Measurement: Some Philosophical Lessons

Abstract How do chemists assign numbers to chemicals properties? What do these numbers refer to? To answer these questions, we will first point out both the context-dependence of chemicals and the epistemic limitations of chemistry. We will then investigate how chemists use various procedures to stabilize measurements and how they use mixtures of samples as “references” in order to determine the amount of different chemicals in a sample. This study will enable us to query how it is possible for chemists to change one factor while holding others constant at each step of the measurement procedure. This part of our work which will lead us to query the meaning of the ceteris paribus clause and the very possibility of making holistic inferences in the domain of chemistry. To conclude, we will highlight how methodological pluralism developed by chemists makes it possible for a relational type of consistency to emerge.

Isolating the sources of pipeline-variability in group-level task-fMRI results.

Task‐fMRI researchers have great flexibility as to how they analyze their data, with multiple methodological options to choose from at each stage of the analysis workflow. While the development of tools and techniques has broadened our horizons for comprehending the complexities of the human brain, a growing body of research has highlighted the pitfalls of such methodological plurality. In a recent study, we found that the choice of software package used to run the analysis pipeline can have a considerable impact on the final group‐level results of a task‐fMRI investigation (Bowring et al., 2019, BMN). Here we revisit our work, seeking to identify the stages of the pipeline where the greatest variation between analysis software is induced. We carry out further analyses on the three datasets evaluated in BMN, employing a common processing strategy across parts of the analysis workflow and then utilizing procedures from three software packages (AFNI, FSL, and SPM) across the remaining steps of the pipeline. We use quantitative methods to compare the statistical maps and isolate the main stages of the workflow where the three packages diverge. Across all datasets, we find that variation between the packages' results is largely attributable to a handful of individual analysis stages, and that these sources of variability were heterogeneous across the datasets (e.g., choice of first‐level signal model had the most impact for the balloon analog risk task dataset, while first‐level noise model and group‐level model were more influential for the false belief and antisaccade task datasets, respectively). We also observe areas of the analysis workflow where changing the software package causes minimal differences in the final results, finding that the group‐level results were largely unaffected by which software package was used to model the low‐frequency fMRI drifts.

Criticism of “Bourgeois” Political Doctrines: Cognition through Denial

In the historiography of political and legal doctrines, along with general scientific research methods, traditional methods are used: chronological, problematic, portrait, country studies. The critical approach is applied in all types of research of political ideas. Meanwhile, in historiography, this method is not given the attention it deserves. Criticism always involves an assessment of the empirical and theoretical material contained in various texts (sources). The productivity of this method is obvious. A critical approach makes it possible to assess the scientific content of a particular political doctrine, as well as the practical prospects for its implementation. Criticism implies a deep immersion of the researcher into the problem and maximum objectivity in evaluating the results obtained. This is what is most often lacking. The legal sphere is already political and is an integral part of it. Political doctrines, as well as the law (one of the forms of expression of law), are always connected with the interests of social groups (In the former terminology — classes). In this regard, it is not necessary to expect neutrality in the estimates. This was the case at the time of total administration in the field of social sciences, and it is happening today, when methodological pluralism and ideological diversity are declared. During the Soviet period, “bourgeois” doctrines and their creators were particularly criticized. As time has shown, this criticism was largely justified. History as such consistently confirms a curious pattern: “progressive” thinkers eventually become “reactionary”, as well as vice versa. Moreover, not only in our country. The paper states the dual orientation of criticism. On the one hand, a critical approach allows a more objective assessment of the political and legal doctrine. This shows its cognitive (cognitive) aspect. On the other hand, criticism gives the researcher a chance to convey to the reader the essence of any theory, doctrine, and idea and give him the opportunity to evaluate them himself. In the conditions of actual censorship, criticism remains almost the only genre of characterization of political and legal doctrines.