Meaning of Paradigm

According to Thomas Kuhn's (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature of Science

Revolution, i.e. paradigm as the underlying assumptions and intellectual structure
upon which research and development in a field of inquiry is based.
Patton (1990): A paradigm is a world view, a general perspective, a way of
breaking down the complexity of the real world.
Paradigm is an interpretative framework, which is guided by "a set of beliefs and
feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied." (Guba,
1990).
• A research paradigm is “the set of common beliefs and agreements
shared between scientist about how problems should be understood
and addressed” (Kuhn, 1970) •
• “Research paradigms can be characterized by the way Scientists
respond to three basic questions: ontological, epistemological and
methodological questions” (Guba, 1990) •
• “Social scientists can ground their inquires in any number of
paradigms. None is right or wrong, merely more or less useful in
particular situation. They each shape the kind of theory created for
general understanding” (Babbie, 1998
Denzin and Lincoln (2001) listed four categories of those beliefs:

 Ontology: what kind of being is the human being. Ontology deals with the question of what is real.

 Epistemology: what is the relationship between the inquirer and the known: "epistemology is the branch of
philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge and the process by which knowledge is acquired and
validated" (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996)

 Methodology: how do we know the world, or gain knowledge of it?

 Axiology: primarily refers to the ‘aims’ of the research. This branch of the research philosophy attempts to
clarify if you are trying to explain or predict the world, or are you only seeking to understand it.
 Functions of paradigms
• Dill and Romiszowski (1997) stated the functions of paradigms as follows:

 Define how the world works, how knowledge is extracted from this world, and how one is to think, write,
and talk about this knowledge

 Define the types of questions to be asked and the methodologies to be used in answering

 Decide what is published and what is not published

 Structure the world of the academic worker

 Provide its meaning and its significance

The Choice of a Paradigm

• . There are important philosophical differences between studies that focus on facts and numbers such as an
analysis of the impact of foreign direct investment on the level of GDP growth and qualitative studies such as
an analysis of leadership style on employee motivation in organizations.

• The choice between positivist and interpretivist research philosophies or between quantitative and
qualitative research methods has traditionally represented a major point of debate. However, the latest
developments in the practice of conducting studies have increased the popularity of pragmatism as well.
Positivism Research Philosophy

• As a philosophy, positivism adheres to the view that only “factual” knowledge gained through observation (the
senses), including measurement, is trustworthy. In positivism studies the role of the researcher is limited to data
collection and interpretation in an objective way. In these types of studies research findings are usually
observable and quantifiable.

• Positivism depends on quantifiable observations that lead to statistical analyses. It has been noted that “as a
philosophy, positivism is in accordance with the empiricist view that knowledge stems from human experience.
It has an atomistic, ontological view of the world as comprising discrete, observable elements and events that
interact in an observable, determined and regular manner”.

• Moreover, in positivism studies the researcher is independent from the study and there are no provisions for
human interests within the study. Researchers warn that “if you assume a positivist approach to your study, then
it is your belief that you are independent of your research and your research can be purely objective.
Independent means that you maintain minimal interaction with your research participants when carrying out
your research.”. In other words, studies with positivist paradigm are based purely on facts and consider the
world to be external and objective.
• The five main principles of positivism research philosophy can be summarized as the following:

• There are no differences in the logic of inquiry across sciences.

• The research should aim to explain and predict.

• Research should be empirically observable via human senses.

• Science is not the same as the common sense. The common sense should not be allowed to bias the research
findings.

• Science must be value-free and it should be judged only by logic.

 The following table illustrates ontology, epistemology, axiology and typical research methods associated with
positivism research philosophy:

Ontology Epistemology Axiology Typical methods

Real, external, independent

Scientific method
Observable and measurable facts Value-free research
One true reality Typically deductive, highly structured,
(universalism) Law-like generalizations Researcher is detached, neutral and large samples, measurement, typically
Numbers independent of what is researched quantitative method of analysis, but a
range of data can be analysed
Granular (things)
Causal explanation and prediction as Researcher maintains objective stance
contributon
Ordered
Interpretivism (interpretivist) Research Philosophy

• Interpretivism, also known as interpretivist involves researchers to interpret

elements of the study, thus interpretivism integrates human interest into a study.
Accordingly, “interpretive researchers assume that access to reality (given or
socially constructed) is only through social constructions such as language,
consciousness, shared meanings, and instruments”. Development of interpretivist
philosophy is based on the critique of positivism in social sciences. Accordingly,
this philosophy emphasizes qualitative analysis over quantitative analysis.
• Moreover, interpretivism studies usually focus on meaning and may employ
multiple methods in order to reflect different aspects of the issue.
• In general, interpretivist approach is based on the following beliefs:

• 1. Relativist ontology. This approach perceives reality as inter subjectively that is based on meanings and
understandings on social and experiential levels.

• 2. Transactional or subjectivist epistemology. According to this approach, people cannot be separated from
their knowledge; therefore, there is a clear link between the researcher and research subject.
 Important Aspects of Interpretivism

• Interpretivist approach is based on naturalistic approach of data collection such as interviews and
observations Secondary data research is also popular with interpretivism philosophy. In this type of studies,
meanings emerge usually towards the end of the research process.
 Characteristics of Interpretive Research

• All interpretive research must adhere to a common set of principles, as described below.

• Naturalistic inquiry: Social phenomena must be studied within their natural setting. Because interpretive
research assumes that social phenomena are situated within and cannot be isolated from their social context,
interpretations of such phenomena must be grounded within their socio-historical context. This implies that
contextual variables should be observed and considered in seeking explanations of a phenomenon of interest,
even though context sensitivity may limit the generalizability of inferences.

• Researcher as instrument: Researchers are often embedded within the social context that they are studying,
and are considered part of the data collection instrument in that they must use their observational skills, their
trust with the participants, and their ability to extract the correct information. Further, their personal insights,
knowledge, and experiences of the social context is critical to accurately interpreting the phenomenon of
interest.
• Interpretive analysis: Observations must be interpreted through the eyes of the participants embedded in the
social context. Interpretation must occur at two levels. The first level involves viewing or experiencing the
phenomenon from the subjective perspectives of the social participants. The second level is to understand the
meaning of the participants’ experiences in order to provide a “thick description” or a rich narrative story of
the phenomenon of interest that can communicate why participants acted the way they did.

• Use of expressive language: Documenting the verbal and non-verbal language of participants and the analysis
of such language are integral components of interpretive analysis. The study must ensure that the story is
viewed through the eyes of a person, and not a machine, and must depict the emotions and experiences of that
person, so that readers can understand and relate to that person. Use of imageries, metaphors, sarcasm, and
other figures of speech is very common in interpretive analysis.

• Temporal nature: Interpretive research is often not concerned with searching for specific answers, but with
understanding or “making sense of” a dynamic social process as it unfolds over time. Hence, such research
requires an immersive involvement of the researcher at the study site for an extended period of time in order
to capture the entire evolution of the phenomenon of interest.
Pragmatism Research Philosophy

• Pragmatism research philosophy accepts concepts to be relevant only if they support action. Pragmatics
“recognise that there are many different ways of interpreting the world and undertaking research, that no
single point of view can ever give the entire picture and that there may be multiple realities”

• Positivism and interpretivism are two extreme mutually exclusive paradigms about the nature and sources of
knowledge. Many dissertation topics fall broadly within one of these two main paradigms. At the same time,
there is an occasional need for seasoned researchers to “modify their philosophical assumptions over time and
move to a new position on the continuum”. The modified philosophical assumptions are adapted by
pragmatic researchers, who usually happen to be experienced researchers.

• Pragmatics can combine both, positivist and interpretivism positions within the scope of a single research
according to the nature of the research question.
 Characteristics of pragmatic research

The methods of pragmatic research:

1. are not dedicated to any one philosophical system of reality.

2. provide researchers the freedom to chose the methods, techniques, and procedures of research that best meet his
or her needs and purposes.

3. do not see the world as an absolute unity, or only one way; rather the pragmatist views research as mixed methods
researchers, who view many approaches to collecting and analyzing data – both qualitatively or quantitatively.

4. allow for truth to be reported as what works at the time rather than as a duel between reality that is independent of
the mind or reality that is within the mind.

5. permit the researcher to discover “what” and “how” rather than to research based upon intended consequences.
• As it is illustrated in the table below, unlike positivism and interpretivism research philosophies, pragmatism
research philosophy can integrate more than one research approaches and research strategies within the same
study. Moreover, studies with pragmatism research philosophy can integrate the use of multiple research
methods such as qualitative, quantitative and action research methods.

Research approach Ontology Axiology Research strategy

Positivism Deductive Objective Value-free Quantitative

Interpretivism Inductive Subjective Biased Qualitative

Pragmatism Deductive/Inductive Objective or subjective Value-free/biased Qualitative and/or quantitative

 Pragmatism Positivism Interpretivism

Mixed or multiple
Highly structured, Small samples,
Popular data
collection method designs, large samples,
method in-depth investigations,
quantitative and measurement, quantitative qualitative
qualitative