Research Paradigm

Webster Dictionary defines paradigm as an example or pattern small, self-contained, simplified examples that we riding habit to illustrate procedures, processes, and theoretical points. The most quoted definition of paradigm is Thomas Kuhns (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature of acquaintance Revolution, i. e. paradigm as the underlying assumptions and intellectual structure upon which research and development in a airfield of inquiry is based. The other definitions in the research literature include Patton (1990) A paradigm is a truth 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 approximately the world and how it should be understood and studied. (Guba, 1990). Denzin and Lincoln (2001) listed ternary 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 th e alliance between the inquirer and the known epistemology is the branch of doctrine 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?When challenging the assumptions underlying positivism, Lincoln and Guba (2000) also identified two more categories that will distinguish different paradigms, i. e. beliefs in causality and oxiology. The assumptions of causality asserts the position of the nature and possibility of causal relationship oxiology deals with the issues about rate. Specific assumptions about research include the role 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 wholeness is to think, write, and talk about th is knowledge Define the types of questions to be asked and the methodologies to be used in answering determine what is published and what is not published Structure the world of the academic worker Provide its meaning and its consequence Two major philosophical doctrines in the affectionate science inquiry argon positivism and postpositivism.The sp ar-time activity is a contrast of the research approach that are entailed from these two different philosophical paradigms. Positivism Postpostivism philosophical Inquiry The physical and genial 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 differently by different individuals. This view of social reality is consistent with the construc tivist driving force 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 centeringes on the determination of the general trends of a defined populations.The features of the social environment retain a high degree of constancy across time and space. Local variations are considered noise Study of sample distributions and population Generalization first defining the population of interest, select a vocalization of the population, the researcher generalizes the findings obtained from battlegrounding the sample to the larger population using the statistical techniques to determine the likelihood that sample findings are likely to apply to the population.The scientific inquiry must focus on the study of twofold social realities, i. e. the different realities created by different individuals a s they interact in a social environment. bump 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 have 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 math to represent and analyze features of social reality is consistent with positivist epistemology a particular feature great deal be isolated and conceptualized as a variable. The variables can be expressed as a numeric scales. Deductive analysis identify underlying themes and patterns prior to information collection and searching through the data for instances of them hypothesis testing Focuses on the study of individual cases and by making thick verbal descriptions of what they observe. uninflected induction search through data bit by bit and then infers that certain events or statements are instances of the same 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 natural scientist inquiries. Positivist Naturalist Reality is single, tangible, and fragmentable. Realities 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 hypotheses are possible. Real cause s, temporally precedent to or simultaneous with their effects (causal relationship)All entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is out(predicate) to distinguish causes from effects. Inquiry is value free. Inquiry is value bounded.