Research Paradigms: A Slippery Slope for Fresh Researchers

Online Submission, 2012

2017

The title of this book refers to both methods and paradigms in education research. Both are addressed, but this book is distinguished from others in that the research paradigm, rather than choice of research method, is placed front of stage. The related field of study is education. The study of education intertwines with a range of disciplines in the social sciences so the research issues arising have implications beyond the education context. The research paradigms addressed in this book include the traditional positivist and post-positivist—here labelled neo-positivist—paradigms. The interpretivist, transformative and pragmatic research paradigms, which have also been nominated in existing literature, are included. A novel supercomplexity paradigm has been added here in acknowledgement of the “supercomplex” environment (Barnett, 2000a) in which education research now operates. Following chapters explore issues relating to the design, implementation and critique of education resear...

ELT Research Journal, 2017

In educational research, it is vital for researchers to have an underlying philosophy and to shape their studies in the borders of a framework. Epistemological and ontological views of the researchers are the key factors affecting the process of research design. Researchers’ perceptions about knowledge and reality are important not only in shaping their research but also reporting the way they use in their research paper. Therefore, this study is designed as an in-depth epistemological and ontological analysis of three selected studies based upon the English Language Teaching classes. For the analysis part, especially the table (see Appendix) reporting different research approaches with different epistemological and ontological views by Guba and Lincoln (1994) were employed. The conclusion drawn from the analysis of these three studies indicate that researchers conduct their studies by basing on one framework or theoretical approach, which best suits for the nature of their research...

This article brings an account into educational research and the impact on policy and practice. Research paradigms represent a crucial element in the research project as they influence both the strategy and the way the researchers construct and interpret the meaning of the reality. The research paradigms have a philosophical underpinning and orient the researchers' point of view on the reality as given by nature or constructed by human agency. Depending on the research paradigm, the researchers have been for long divided into two camps: the tenants of the quantitative methods and the tenants of qualitative ones. They have been arguing from opposing stances which method is superior. The quantitative method privilege the numbers, while the qualitative uses the words, therefore it seems like a war of numbers versus words. Lately, a third way is advocating for a mixed methodology, as more beneficial to research. The paper concludes that the different perspectives of research can be considered more as complementing rather than contradicting each other. The paper considers the implications of research on education and the role of research for professional development and educational practice.

Journal of Lexicography and Terminology (Online ISSN 2664-0899. Print ISSN 2517-9306)., 2020

In this paper, authors engage with how diverse inquiry traditions frame the viewpoints of various authors in educational research. Authors seek to shine some spotlight on how different epistemological standpoints are inaugurated, exemplified and deployed in the literature. Authors focus on three inquiry traditions. The first tradition in our analysis is the positivist and postpositivist paradigm. The second is the interpretivist/constructivist inquiry tradition. The third epistemological standpoint revolves around the studies that utilise critical/poststructuralist inquiry traditions. Authors pay attention to what sort of questions each of the three epistemologies pursues. Authors also attempt to analyse how their choice of diction typically portrays their epistemic system. In so doing, authors hoped to illuminate the central premises of the three epistemologies by showcasing the examples that help to mark them from other inquiry traditions.

2021

The document presents the analysis and assessment of the paradigms through which educational research can be supported. It provides a rationale for why the researcher clearly defines the paradigm(s) of his/her study, considering the relevance and usefulness of these paradigms in the research process. Focusing on why it is essential to recognize the specificity of the levels of analysis - ethical, epistemological, methodological or axiological, in this type of research? This necessarily presents a complex picture, in relation to its object of study, and its position in the current science system.

This current research paper updates my previous work on the philosophy and application of the educational research . It deals with and fully seeks to the explain such philosophical terms as metaphysics (ontology), epistemology and ethics in depth. The argument leads logically to pragmatism, which is a new philosophical branch through which researchers adopt the best tools to answer their research questions. In fact, the appearance of mixed methods research as a methodological tool has questioned the validity of the philosophically-based assumption that following specific ontological convictions leads (logically) to adopting specific epistemological stance. Example of which is clearly substantiated in the bulk of research conducted by objectivist researchers who normally follow a positivist epistemological route. Such an assumption is no longer valid. Thus, through this paper, I arguebased on Davis Morgan (2014) -that justifying methodological tools on the basis of ontological and epistemological assumptions is old fashioned and no longer useful. Pragmatism should be utilised instead as a valid and practical research philosophy.

International Journal of Educational Excellence, 2020

The philosophy of educational research has traditionally been one of the least studied fields in the epistemology of the social sciences and humanities. However, a philosophical reflection on education itself, in the search for an ultimate explanation of what it means in the field of human evolution, necessarily implies knowing how to obtain information for its knowledge. This, in an epistemological context, implies analyzing the research methods used in the educational sciences. Throughout its history, educational research has experienced three stages of methodological evolution in its search for scientific effectiveness: (a) research without adhering to a particular model, (b) research applied to practice, and (c) research inserted into practice. The analysis of these methodological evolutions shows a history of great academic value, of fascinating philosophical debates, which every educator and educational researcher should know, and which nevertheless remains practically unexplored and unstudied in its entirety in the academic field.

Research Paradigms: Researchers’ Worldviews, Theoretical Frameworks and Study Designs Sayyed Rashid Shah Faculty of Engineering King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Bargi English Language Institute King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia Abstract For novice researchers, in the fields of educational and social research, the choice of an appropriate research paradigm and relevant methodology is an uphill task. The vast amount of literature on this subject further exacerbates the confusion of early-career researchers. Hence, the current paper introduces them to the philosophical underpinnings of three major research paradigms in research. It delineates the positivistic, interpretive, and critical paradigms with an aim to seek a connexion among the ontology, epistemology, methodology and methods of each paradigm. In addition, it explores various underlying assumptions in educational research that have an impact on researchers’ world views, theoretical frameworks and study designs. Keywords: methods; methodology; research paradigms; study designs; worldviews

This paper offers an overview of three major educational research paradigms: positivist interpretivist and critical paradigms. These paradigms in turn shape the choice of methodology and methods. The paper explains the ontological and epistemological foundations of each paradigm. The paper can help those embarking on research journey to gather an insight into the three major research paradigms and choose a paradigm according to their personal propensity, aim of their research, or contextual limitations.