Generic Research Methodology Programme as Imperative for Prospective PhD Research Development: Exploring Research Philosophy

Abstract

A doctorate of philosophy study is a requirement in every society to promote research and innovation through interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research. The philosophy of research serves as a critical cornerstone in guiding and shaping the prospective research processes towards this end. However, the curriculum of research methodology programmes for doctoral students, especially in the natural sciences, mostly leaves out the philosophical components of logic, critical thinking and consciousness of the social responsibility of research. This creates a developmental gap in doctoral training, producing scholars not competently nurtured as the big thinkers and creative problem-solvers society needs. This paper, therefore, explores the significance of philosophical underpinnings within a multidisciplinary platform and their implications for doctoral development and inquiry. The study is based on the unique Generic Research Methodology Programme (RSM) of the Postgraduate School in Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna and supported by a broader textual analysis of some other doctoral research programmes that also sought to harness the role of liberal education in interdisciplinary doctoral development. At its core, the RSM foregrounds the intricate relationship between philosophical frameworks and the research journey but presents this within a carefully knitted package that adequately provides for the peculiarities and multidisciplinarity in research development. The RSM programme is therefore delivered in three blocks comprising two generic multidisciplinary study blocks and one peculiar disciplinary block. This paper focuses on the first generic block RSM 911, titled Research Philosophies...