Research Paradigm

Webster Dictionary defines paradigm as an example or blueprint small, self-contained, simplified examples that we use to illustrate procedures, processes, and theoretical points. The most quoted definition of paradigm is Thomas Kuhns (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature of Science Revolution, i. e. paradigm as the cardinal assumptions and intellectual structure upon which look for and development in a field of enquiry is establish. The other definitions in the research literature accommodate 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 instructive framework, which is guided by a set of beliefs and feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied. (Guba, 1990). Denzin and capital of Nebraska (2001) listed three categories of those beliefs Ontology what kind of be is the human being. Ontology deals with the interrogative sentence of what is real. Epistemology what is t he relationship between the inquirer and the known epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the temperament 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?When challenging the assumptions underlying positivism, Lincoln and Guba (2000) also identified two more categories that will write out incompatible paradigms, i. e. beliefs in actor and oxiology. The assumptions of causality asserts the position of the nature and possibility of causal relationship oxiology deals with the issues about value. Specific assumptions about research include the reference of value in research, how to avoid value from influencing research, and how best to use research products (Baptiste, 2000).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 maven is to think, write, and talk about this knowledge Define the types of questions to be asked and the methodologies to be employ in answering Decide what is published and what is not published bodily structure the world of the academic worker Provide its meaning and its signifi footce ii major philosophical doctrines in the favorable science dubiousness atomic number 18 positivism and postpositivism.The following is a contrast of the research approach that be entailed from these two different philosophical paradigms. Positivism Postpostivism Philosophical Inquiry The somatogenetic and mixer reality is independent of those who observe it Observation of this reality, if unbiased, constitutes scientific knowledge. behavioral researchers in education and psychology exemplify an approach to scientific inquiry that is grounded in positivist epistemology.Social reality is constructed by the individuals who participate it. It is constructed otherwise by different individuals. This view of social reality is consistent with the constructivist question in cognitive psychology, which posts that individuals gradually build their own understandings of the world through experience and maturation. The mind is not tabula rasa (blank slate) upon which knowledge is written. Research Design The inquiry focuses on the determination of the general trends of a defined populations.The features of the social environment retain a high degree of constancy across while and space. Local variations are considered noise Study of samples and population generalization rootage defining the population of interest, select a representative of the population, the researcher generalizes the findings obtained from poring over the sample to the larger population using the statistical techniques to determine the likeliness that sample findings are likely to apply to the population.The scientific inquiry must(prenominal) focus on the study of multiple social realities, i. e. the different realities created by different individuals as they interact in a social environment. start a ways to get individuals to reveal their constructions of social realities, including the person being studied and the researcher. Reflexivity focus on the researchers self as an integral constructor of the social reality being studied The study of ndividuals interpretations of social reality must occur at the local, immediate level. Study of cases puddle you learned something about his case that informs us about another cases? Generalization of case study findings must be make on a case-by-case basis. In other words, it is the reader who made the generalization based on his or her own interpretation The focus is on the transferability instead of generalization.Data Collection and Design. The use of mathematics to represent and analyze features of social reality is consistent with positivist epistemology a particular feature can be isolated and conceptualized as a variable. The variables can be evince as a numerical scales. Deductive analysis identify underlying themes and patterns prior to data collection and searching through the data for instances of them scheme testing Focuses on the study of individual cases and by making chummy verbal descriptions of what they observe.Analytic induction search through data bit by bit and then infers that certain events or statements are instances of the analogous underlying themes or patterns View of causality A mechanistic causality among social objects Individuals interpretation of situations cause them to take certain actions Lincoln and Guba (2000) made the following distinctions between positivist and naturalist inquiries. Positivist Naturalist earthly concern is single, tangible, and fragmentable. rattlingities are multiple, constructed, and holistic.Dualism the knower and the known are independent. The knower and the known are interactive and inseparable. Time and context free generalizationOnly time-and context-bound working hyp otheses are possible. Real causes, temporally precedent to or simultaneous with their effects (causal relationship)All entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects. Inquiry is value free. Inquiry is value bounded.