Federal political system resolve the problem of premature dissolutions of government in

 

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8 
2. 
Theoretical and Methodological Framework 
2.1 Ontology and Epistemology
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge as to what is known and how it comes to 
be known.
6
Ontology is the nature of reality and its characteristics,
7
it is 'the study 
of 'being' concerning with 'what is', with the nature of existence, with the structure 
of reality as such'.
8
The researcher starts from the ontological position that there is a problem of 
ongoing political instability in Pakistan in which a number of factors including, 
ultimately, reliance by the judiciary on the doctrine of state necessity, play a part 
and that the existence of this problem can be objectively determined. As a realist, 
however, the researcher is not only evaluating the legal system but is also describing 
how it works in practice.
9
Epistemology involves, in essence, a choice between positivist and interpretivist 
methods of data collection and analysis to provide results that generate a justified 
true belief in the answer to the research question. The researcher brings his practice 
experience as a litigation lawyer to the question of epistemology. He is, as a lawyer, 
conscious of the need to use credible, valid evidence to prove his conclusions. 
Epistemologies usually contain an understanding of the unit of appraisal in the 
sense of what is being judged. This, in litigation terms, means the application being 
made, the standards of judgment (in the sense of how valid judgments can be made; 
the standard of proof) the underpinning logic (in the sense of the form of reasoning 
that takes in understanding the real as rational) and the submissions and argument 
of the advocate.
10
The researcher's unit of appraisal in this project is the contribution to premature 
dissolution of government of the key factors set out in the research questions. The 
6
Jack Whitehead and Jean McNiff, Action research living theory (SAGE Publications 2006) 23. 
7
John W. Creswell, Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (3rd 
edn, SAGE 2013) 20. 
8
Michael Crotty, The foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in the research 
process (SAGE 1998) 10. 
9
Mark Van Hoecke, 'Legal Doctrine: Which method(s) for What kind of Discipline?' in Mark Van 
Hoecke (ed), Methodologies of Legal Research Which Kind of Method for What Kind of Discipline? (Hart 
2011) 3. 
10
ibid. 

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9 
standards of judgment include the critical evaluation of these concepts and the logic 
is the way in which inferences are drawn from that critical evaluation.
It is the researcher's position that, in order to demonstrate a justified true belief in 
his findings, he must adopt a blended epistemology in which he first uses a 
positivist approach in describing what the law is and has been, and the political 
and historical state of affairs that surrounds it in chapters 3 to 4. In order to answer 
the research questions, however, it is necessary to go beyond positivism into a 
qualitative, interpretative analysis that allows him to explore from a realist 
perspective, for example, the causes of the particular problem under investigation, 
that is premature dissolutions of government. It also allows for the structural and 
functionalist comparative investigation that takes place in Chapter 5.