A brief understanding of epistemology and ontology

What is epistemology and ontology?

At grad school, I struggled to wrap my head around these terms. Mostly because I like to think of concepts in a very tangible way. However, in grad school, it is important to view concepts in an abstract way.

Hopefully, this short article will give you an insight on what is epistemology and ontology.

Let’s begin with ontology.

In essence, ontology deals with what is real, and epistemology deals with what knowledge is and the logic behind that knowledge. In research terms, ontology examines reality.

Tom Fryer brilliantly distinguishes these in his book (A short guide to ontology and epistemology). Tom describes ontology as something real - imagine a hammer hitting your toe - the pain is real. So, 'on toe logy' is the study of reality.

Now, what is epistemology?

Epistemology, on the other hand, is described as 'epic stem', and then Tom Fryer goes on to ask - how do we know if that stem is epic? Essentially, asking ourselves - how do we know that is real? So, epistemology here is the study of knowledge.

Ontology and epistemology - in relation with each other

To better understand these terms, it is easier to look at them in relation to each other. Ontology focuses on the origin, for example - "What exists? What is real?", meanwhile epistemology focuses on explaining knowledge - seeking to understand the origin.

Types of ontologies

While there might be various ontologies, three key ontologies are (1) single reality, (2) multiple realities, (3) reality is constantly negotiated and interpreted.

Types of epistemologies

Meanwhile, epistemology also can be categorized into three key ideas, which are (1) belief knowledge can be measured, (2) reality needs to be interpreted, and (3) knowledge/reality should be examined using the best tools

Ontology + Epistemology = Research Paradigm

Together, ontology and epistemology make up the research paradigm - which commonly consists of: positivism, constructivism, and pragmatism. But before going on to the research paradigms, let's have a look at two iceberg models to strengthen our understanding.

So, how does this add up?

Let’s look at this image below:

From the iceberg model above, we can see how ontology and epistemology are under the sea, which essentially signals that these are philosophical foundations that lays the foundation for your methodology and methods.

Just by looking at this image, you get a clear idea on the relationship between these terms. Watch the video to get a more detailed understanding!

Final remarks

A more comprehensive way to look at ontology and epistemology would be this figure below

This image is taken from Advanced Research Methods.

Thus, its important to distinguish that ontology and epistemology are philosophical foundations. Always remember, these terms are not tangible, rather they are abstract.