Identifying the philosophical position: Constructivism

It is suggested that the there are three dominant philosophical assumptions that underpin the research approach adopted for this study, which are ontology, epistemology and methodology (Kuhn, 1970; T.A. Schwandt, 1994; Denzin and Lincoln, 2011b). Bateson (1972) argued that these three abstract principles help the qualitative researchers to understand or identify their conceptualisation of paradigm, as Bateson emphasised that; ‘…universal sense in which all human beings…are guided highly by abstract principles’ (p.320). This study relies on a constructivist paradigm; therefore, the three philosophical principles are adopted to explain how the production of knowledge is shaped and to identify the natural inquiry of paradigms.

Lichtman (2010) indicates that ‘ontology refers to a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of reality’ (p.245). Denzin and Lincoln (2011) argued that ontology is related to the questions of ‘what kind of being is the human being? What is the nature of reality?’ (p.12). This suggested that ontology is associated with existence and is therefore considered to be an interpretation of reality, dealing with the question ‘what’. In this regard, there are three different approaches of the ontological principle such as realism, critical realism, and relativism (Guba and Lincoln, 2005). The realist approach is regarded as ‘the knowledge/belief in a single identifiable reality. There is a single truth that can be measured and studied. The purpose of research is to predict and control nature ’ (Lincoln et al., 2011, p.102). This realist ontological assumption is related with ‘positivism’, which a ‘hard science researcher believed’ (ibid). Critical realism ‘recognises the nature can never be understood. There is a single reality, but we may not fully understand what it is or how to get to it because of the hidden variable and lack of absolute in nature. This is regarded as postpositivism’ (ibid). Lastly, the relativist ontological approach is related to ‘the realities which exist in the form of multiple mental constructions, socially and experientially based, local and specific, dependent for their form on the person who hold them’ (Guba,1990, p. 27). This ontological approach of relativism is regarded as the constructivist/interpretivist as it aimed to ‘gain understanding by interpreting subject perceptions’ (Lincoln et al., 2011, p.102). Consequently, by regarding it from three ontological approaches, this study’s ontology is related to relativism. This is because this research relates to the way people socially and experientially construct their reality or knowledge. The branded masculine representations of alcohol advertising on TV are the reality or knowledge or a social construction, which exist in ‘Thai society’ and are related to human behaviour or interactions, lived experiences and social and cultural values (Guba, 1990; Guba and Lincoln, 2005; Denzin and Lincoln, 2011b). In the other words, the ontology of this

research is constructivist/interpretivist, since it shows that ‘we construct the knowledge through our lived experiences and through our interactions with other members of society. As such, as researchers, we must participate in the research process with our subjects to ensure we are producing knowledge that is reflective of their reality’ (Lincoln et al., 2011, p.103).

For the epistemology, Hirschheim et al. (1995) stated that epistemology is ‘the nature of human knowledge and understanding that can possibly be acquired through different types of inquiry and alternative methods of investigation’ (p. 20). Lichtman (2010) noted that epistemology is a branch of philosophy dealing with the theory of knowledge, the nature of knowledge or how we know what we know’ (p.244). Epistemology is therefore related to the question of ‘how’, the type of inquiry, or the relationship and way in which a researcher will interact with reality, or how a researcher seeks knowledge. The epistemology of this study involved a subjectivist approach, interpreting individual or specific phenomena (Guba and Lincoln, 2005). As can be seen in this study, epistemology was relied on to interpret the viewpoints of people. In particular, it involved examining how the audience decodes TV alcohol advertising, and the alcohol distributors and advertisers’ perspectives of the masculine construction that was applied in their advertisements. As Lincoln and Guba (1985); Guba (1990); Guba and Lincoln (1994) mention, with regard to the epistemology of constructivism, we (as researchers) construct our own reality or knowledge as a result of our interactions with holistic circumstances, so that it is not possible to separate the value of the inquirer from the knowledge, as we shape it by the lived experiences in which a value is embedded. However, Guba and Lincoln (1994) and Schwandt (1994) argued that constructivism/interpretivism aims to understand, construct/reconstruct and focus on a particular or specific situation. Therefore, as time passes, instrumental knowledge or reality can become obsolete and new knowledge develops. In other words, hermeneutics or dialectics are believed to be the way to deconstruct or reconstruct knowledge, as human behaviour or interaction is an occurrence rather than a universal reality or generalisation. This is in contrast with positivism, which believes in objective knowledge or reality and views the knowledge or reality as a universal reality or generalisation (Merriam, 1991; Carson, 2001).

Finally, the term methodology is also related to the ‘how’, in this case the question being how the researcher will investigate the knowledge, as Lichtman (2010) referred methodolgy to ‘the various teachings, methods, and procedure used in conducting research’ (p.245). In other words, methodology is related to the research strategies, techniques or methods that will be used to discover reality or knowledge (Guba and Lincoln, 1989). Therefore, the methodological position adopted in this study deals with individuals’ opinions, which are subjectivist or

inductive. Therefore, hermeneutics or interpretivism was the constructivistic methodology used to interpret and explain human actions (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Guba, 1990). More specifically, in terms of the methods used, this study applied several methods for investigating the issue. For instance, a qualitative content analysis was applied to explore what took place in the media, and what forms of gender identities are represented. This was followed by the in- depth interview with alcohol manufacturers investigating how they made the adverts and created the masculinities promoting their brands. Lastly, focus groups with media audiences were applied exploring how consumers perceived the adverts that the alcohol drinks brands represented. These three research tools were therefore applied for investigation, as discussed in the following.