What is a research paradigm?
A research paradigm is the basic belief system or worldview that guides the investigator, not only in choices of method but in ontologically and epistemologically fundamental ways (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, pp. 105).
What four major research paradigms can we define?
In Research Methods 1 unit 1 we distinguish four different research paradigms: positivism, post-positivism, critical theory and constructivism.
On what 5 axes do research paradigms in social sciences/development studies differ?
Research paradigms in social sciences/development studies differ on their ontology, epistemology, methodology, reflexivity and positionality.
What is ontology?
Ontology studies the form and nature of reality and, therefore, what there is that can be known about it.
What is realist ontology?
A realist ontological view entails that:
- social phenomena confront us as external facts
- individuals are born into a pre-existing social world
- social forces and rules exert pressure on actors
- these social forces can be apprehended as context-free generalisations, cause-effect laws.
- culture exists independently of social actors who are socialised into its values.
What is constructionist ontology?
A constructionist ontological view entails that:
- social phenomena and their meanings are constructed by social actors
- continually accomplished and revised
- researchers’ accounts of events are also constructions - many alternative interpretations
- language and representation shape our perceptions of reality
What is epistemology?
Epistemology studies the nature of the relationship between the knower or would-be knower and what can be known.
What is objectivist epistemology?
An objectivist epistemological view entails:
- the application of natural science methods to social science research
- phenomenalism/empiricism: knowledge via the senses
- deductivism: theory testing
- an objective, value-free researcher
What is subjectivist epistemology?
A subjectivist epistemological view entails:
- subject matter of the social sciences (people) demands non-positivist methods
- concerned with the theory and method of the interpretation of human action
- hermeneutic-phenomenological tradition
- Verstehen: interpretative understanding of social action (Weber 1947)
- attempts to see world from the actor’s perspective: subjective reality
What is methodology?
Methodology studies how the inquirer (would-be knower) can go about finding out whatever he or she believes can be known.
What is the difference between research methodology and research methods?
Research methodology is concerned with defining a strategy on how to elicit the knowledge that the researcher believes can be known, while a research method is a technique or instrument for collecting data.
What is reflexivity?
Reflexivity is the act of observing yourself as a researcher/practitioner/activist taking into account context factors such as culture, history, relationships, .. that are shaping you.
What is the positionality of a researcher?
The positionality of a researcher is concerned with the involvement with and relationship to what he/she studies as well as the voice and involvement of the researcher in using the created knowledge for policy making.
