Constructing the object of studies in doctoral research

Abstract

This research aims to, throughout the text, analyze the product of the authors' experiences on the path followed to approach the object of study and generate theoretical approaches in a specific field of knowledge. To this end, an analytical-reflective approach was applied. The results reveal the research development of doctoral students, which implies transferring the different stages that start from the contextualization of reality, scientific rigorousness, and successive approaches to teleological, theoretical, methodological, and epistemic sources, with criteria of ethical rigorousness. A scientific understanding of this process is essential, which entails a clear differentiation for the support of contributions in philosophy of science, especially Popper (1976), Kuhn (1962), Lakatos (1978), and Feyerabend (1991), whose influence in the field of formal and factual sciences helped them be felt in social sciences. This research and interpretation by the authors allows them to demystify the debate of carrying out research in social sciences that are appropriate with the social and cultural context, which allows one to solve problems with scientific formality. Keywords: doctoral thesis; object of study; philosophy of science; epistemology; research in social sciences