In this chapter, Bagele takes us through five research paradigms:
- Positivist
- Interpretive
- Transformative
- Pragmatic
- Indigenous
Before engaging with these, let’s first consider: What is a paradigm?
What is a paradigm?
In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), Thomas Kuhn used the term “paradigm” in two ways:
1. to represent a particular way of thinking that is shared by a community of scientists in solving problems in their field
2. to represent the “commitments, beliefs, values, methods, outlooks and so forth shared across a discipline” (Schwandt, 2023).
A paradigm is a shared world view that represents the beliefs and values in a discipline and that guides how problems are solved (Schwandt, 2023).
A paradigm is a way of describing a world view that is informed by philosophical assumptions about the nature of social reality (known as ontology – that is, what do we believe about the nature of reality?), ways of knowing (known as epistemology – that is, how do we know what we know?), and ethics and value systems (known as axiology – that is, what do we believe is true?) (Patton, 2002). A paradigm thus leads us to ask certain questions and use appropriate approaches to systematic inquiry (known as methodology – that is, how should we study the world?). Ontology relates to whether we believe there is one verifiable reality or whether there exist multiple, socially constructed realities (Patton, 2002). Epistemology inquires into the nature of knowledge and truth. It asks the following questions: What are the sources of knowledge? How reliable are these sources? What can one know? How does one know if something is true? For instance, consider that some people think that the notion that witches exist is just a belief. Epistemology asks further questions: Is a belief true knowledge? Or is knowledge only that which can be proven using concrete data? For example, if you say witches exist, what is the source of your evidence? What methods can you use to find out about their existence? Together, these paradigmatic aspects help to determine the assumptions and beliefs that frame a researcher’s view of a research problem, how he/she goes about investigating it, and the methods he/she uses to answer the research questions. (Chilisa & Kawulich, 2012, p. 51)
If you find some of this terminology complex, here’s a song to assist! [INSERT SONG]
Now let’s consider this table which outlines the five paradigms mentioned above:
- Positivist
- Interpretive
- Transformative
- Pragmatist
- Indigenous
Please note, there are many ways to describe multiple research paradigms. In this course we have chosen to focus on these groupings. And we hope you find this helpful.
Research paradigms table
| Category | Positivist Paradigm | Interpretive Paradigm | Transformative Paradigm | Pragmatist Paradigm | Indigenous Research Paradigm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reason for doing the research | To discover laws that are generalizable and govern the universe | To understand and describe human nature | To destroy myths and empower people to change society radically | To solve problems and develop interventions | To challenge deficit thinking and pathological descriptions of the formerly colonized and reconstruct a body of knowledge that carries hope and promotes transformation and social change among the historically oppressed |
| Philosophical underpinnings | Informed mainly by realism, idealism, and critical realism | Informed by hermeneutics and phenomenology | Informed by critical theory, postcolonial discourses, feminist theories, race-specific theories, and neo-Marxist theories | Largely informed by the pragmatist philosophy of John Dewey | Informed by indigenous knowledge systems, critical theory, postcolonial discourses, feminist theories, critical race-specific theories, and neo-Marxist theories |
| Ontological assumptions | One reality, knowable within probability | Multiple socially constructed realities | Multiple realities shaped by human rights values, democratic and social justice values, and political, cultural, economic, race, ethnic, gender, and disability values | The practical effects of ideas | Socially constructed multiple realities shaped by the set of multiple connections that human beings have with the environment, the cosmos, the living, and the nonliving |
| Place of values in the research process | Science is value free, and values have no place except when choosing a topic | Values are an integral part of social life; no group’s values are wrong, only different | Researchers prioritize the value of furthering social justice and human rights. | Researchers’ values matter, and knowledge is valuable only if it has positive consequences. | All research must be guided by a relational accountability that promotes respectful representation, reciprocity, and rights of the researched. The ethics theory is informed by appreciative inquiry and desire-based perspectives |
| Nature of knowledge | Objective | Subjective; idiographic | Dialectical understanding aimed at critical praxis | Knowledge should be viewed in terms of its practical use | Knowledge is relational, as is all the indigenous knowledge systems built on relations |
| What counts as truth | Based on precise observation and measurement that is verifiable | Truth is context dependent | It is informed by a theory that unveils illusions | Any knowledge that leads to pragmatic solutions is useful. The mandate of science is not to find truth but facilitate human problem solving. | It is informed by the set of multiple relations that one has with the universe |
| Methodology | Research designs: quantitative, correlational, quasi-experimental, causal comparative, survey | Research designs: qualitative, phenomenology, ethnographic, symbolic interaction, naturalistic | Research designs: combination of quantitative and qualitative action research; participatory research | Mixed methods research; the research questions or objectives should determine the methodology. | Participatory, liberatory, and transformative research approaches and methodologies that draw from indigenous knowledge systems |
| Techniques of gathering data | Mainly questionnaires, observations, tests, and experiments | Mainly interviews, participant observation, pictures, photographs, diaries, and documents | Culturally responsive techniques of data collection | Qualitative and quantitative methods | Techniques based on philosophic sagacity, ethnophilosophy, language frameworks, indigenous knowledge systems, talk stories, and talk circles; adapted techniques from the other three paradigms |
This table is an extract from page Indigenous Research Methodologies (Chilisa, 2019, p. 47).
Video resources
Reflect
Take a few moments to look over this research paradigms table and then write a reflection below about why it’s important to understand which paradigm(s) inform your research.
References and further reading
Beier, U. (Ed.). (1980). Voices of independence: New Black writing from Papua New Guinea. University of Queensland Press.
Chilisa, B. (2019). Indigenous Research Methodologies (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Chilisa, B., & Chilisa, R. (2012). Community researchers in an adolescent risk reduction intervention in Botswana: challenges and opportunities. In L. Goodson & J. Phillimore (Eds.), Community research for participation: From theory to method (pp. 269–282). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781847429421.ch017
Chilisa, B., & Kawulich, B. B. (2012). Selecting a research approach: Paradigm, methodology and methods. In C. Wagner, B. Kawulich, & M. Garner (Eds.), Doing social research: A global context (pp. 51–61). McGraw-Hill.
Chilisa, B., & Tsheko, G. N. (2014). Mixed methods in Indigenous research: Building relationships for sustainable intervention outcomes. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 8(3), 222–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689814527878
Kuhn, T. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Schwandt, T. A. (2023). Paradigms. In T. A. Schwandt (Ed.), The SAGE dictionary of qualitative inquiry. SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483398969.n16