PARADIGMS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

PARADIGMS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

(Draft only)

Mental model or frames of reference (belief system) (to organize observation and reasoning) shape our research designs. These frames or mental models are known as paradigms (Bhattacherjee, 2012). It is a way to describe a worldview, informed by some philosophical assumptions about the nature of (social) reality (Chilisa and Kawulich, 2012). They are like colored glasses that control what we see and how we organize our thoughts about the observed world. According to Schwandt (2001), “a paradigm is a shared worldview that represents the beliefs and values in a discipline and that guides how problems are solved”.

Different people have a different views of the observed phenomenon because they see social reality in different ways. For example, liberals and conservatives proposed different poverty reduction strategies as they see governments’ roles differently. To create a better economy, conservative may propose lowering taxes while liberal may propose investment in job creation. Hence, a paradigm is based on some philosophical assumptions about:

            1.      Nature of social reality/what do we believe (Ontology)

            2.      Method of knowing social reality/how do we know? (epistemology), and

            3.      Value system/what do we believe is true? (Axiology) (Patton, 2002)

       

Ontology is what we assume to be true or how we see the world.

Epistemology seeks the nature of knowledge and truth. In other words, it inquires about the appropriate way to study the world.

 Hence, a paradigm, in order to answer such questions, guides researchers to formulate specific research questions and sound approaches (known as Methodology) to a scientific investigation.  

I the words of  McGregor et al  (2010)

“All research methodologies are differentiated by four axioms or principles (axiom is from the Greek axios, meaning to “deem worthy”): (a) what counts (is worthy) as knowledge and how people come to know it (epistemology); (b) what counts as nature, reality, feeling, existence or being (ontology); (c) what is acceptable as rigor and inference in the development of arguments, judgments or insights (logic); and, (d) what counts as fundamental values and what is consciousness (moral choices, ethics, and normative judgments) (axiology)”. 
Two widely used paradigms in social sciences are:
1. Positivism (knowledge should be restricted to observable facts)
2. Post-positivism (combining observable facts with logical reasoning; camp further divided into subjectivists and critical realists)

However, we can divide research paradigms into four broader categories as described by Burrell and Morgan, (1979) (cited by Bhattacherjee, 2012):

1. Functionalism

2. Interpretivism

3. Radical structuralism

4. Radical humanism  

NEXT 

Positivism/post-positivism,

Constructivism/interpretativism,

Transformative/emancipatory

Radical structuralism 

Radical humanism  

Postcolonial Indigenous research paradigm

REFERENCES
Bhattacherjee, A. 2012. Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. Textbooks Collection. Book 3. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3
Chilisa, B and Kawulich, B. 2012. Selecting a research approach: paradigm, methodology and methods. Draft paper.  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barbara_Kawulich/publication/257944787_Selecting_a_research_approach_Paradigm_methodology_and_methods/links/56166fc308ae37cfe40910fc/Selecting-a-research-approach-Paradigm-methodology-and-methods.pdf
Dawn S and Spencer, L. 2003. The Foundations of Qualitative Research. In Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. Edited by Jane Ritchie and Jane Lewis. SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
McGregor, S.L.T., & Murnane, J. A. 2010. Paradigm, methodology and method: Intellectual integrity in consumer scholarship. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 34(4), 419-427. Posted with Permission from Wiley-Blackwell
O’Leary, Z. 2004. The essential guide to doing research. SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42, Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109, New Delhi 110 017
Patton, M.Q. 2002. Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: SageSchwandt, T.A. (2001). Dictionary of qualitative inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
 McGregor, S.L.T. 2009. Politicizing consumer education: Conceptual evolutions. In J. Sandlin and P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical pedagogies of consumption: Living and learning in the shadow of the “Shopocalypse” (pp. 122-133). New York: NY: Routledge.