Two epistemological perspectives, empiricism and interpretivism, are of significance to understanding experiences of older adults in managing their symptoms and the effectiveness of self-management interventions as one of the most important osteoarthritis therapies. The purpose of this paper is to identify how two philosophical paradigms contribute to the studies of self-management interventions for older adults with osteoarthritis.
A brief overview of philosophical tenets of empiricism and interpretivism with the author's own perspectives on this epistemological issue is presented.
Each philosophical paradigm has its own appropriateness to answer specific research questions. The acceptance of multiple paradigms allows researchers to have diverse world views, utilize creativity, enhance understandings and interpretations of the meanings in different situations, identify relationships, and develop theories.
Rather than ascendancy of one paradigm over the other, the combination of paradigms may be more helpful to comprehensively understand the phenomena of osteoarthritis self-management and its efficacy.