Research Paradigms

PARADIGMS

The design of a research study begins with the selection of a topic and a paradigm. A paradigm is essentially a worldview, a whole framework of beliefs, values and methods within which research takes place. It provides a conceptual framework for seeing and making sense of the social world; to be located in a particular paradigm is to view the world in a particular way. A paradigm stands for the entire constellation of beliefs, values and techniques, shared by the members of a community.

The significance of paradigms is that they shape how we perceive the world and are reinforced by those around us, the community of practitioners. Within the research process the beliefs a researcher holds will reflect in the way they research is designed, how data is both collected and analysed and how research results are presented. For the researcher it is important to recognise their paradigm, it allows them to identify their role in the research process, determine the course of any research project and distinguish other perspectives. Therefore, paradigms are never right or wrong but merely different ways of looking at society. In that respect, they are to be judged as useful or useless in specific situations only.

1 Macro theory and micro theory

Macro theory deals with large, aggregate entities of society or whole societies. e.g. struggle between economic classes, international relations

Micro theory deals with issues at the level of individuals and small groups. e.g.

dating behavior, jury deliberations, student faculty interactions

2 Early positivism

The early positivist paradigm of exploring social reality is based on the philosophical ideas of the French philosopher August Comte, who emphasized observation and reason as means of understanding human behavior. According to him, true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment. Positivistic thinkers adopt his scientific method as a means of knowledge generation. Hence, it has to be understood within the framework of the principles and assumptions of science. These assumptions are determinism, empiricism, parsimony, and generality.

• ‘Determinism’ means that events are caused by other circumstances; and hence, understanding such casual links are necessary for prediction and control. • ‘Empiricism’ means collection of verifiable empirical evidences in support of theories or hypotheses. • ‘Parsimony’ refers to the explanation of the phenomena in the most economic way possible. • ‘Generality’ is the process of generalizing the observation of the particular phenomenon to the world at large. With these assumptions of science, the ultimate goal of science is to integrate and systematise findings into a meaningful pattern or theory which is regarded as tentative and not the ultimate truth. Positivistic paradigm thus systematizes the knowledge generation process with the help of quantification, which is essential to enhance precision in the description of parameters and the discernment of the relationship among them. This paradigm regards human behaviour as passive, controlled and determined by external environment. Hence human beings are dehumanized without their intention, individualism and freedom taken into account in viewing and interpreting social reality. According to the critics of this paradigm, objectivity needs to be replaced by subjectivity in the process of scientific inquiry.

3 Ethnomethodology

Ethnomethodology, founded in the 1960s by the American sociologist Harold Garfinkel, studies the way in which people make sense of their social world, and accomplish their daily lives. Ethnomethodologists start with the assumption that social order is an illusion. While social life appears ordered, it is, in fact chaotic. Social order is constructed in the minds of actors as a series of impressions which they seek to organize into a coherent pattern. While ethnography seeks to answer questions about what is happening, ethnomethodology seeks answers on how realities in everyday life are accomplished. So, by carefully observing and analyzing the processes used in actors’ actions, researchers will uncover the processes by which these actors constantly interpret social reality.

4 Structural functionalism

Structural functionalism, also known as a social systems paradigm is a sociological paradigm which addresses what social functions various elements of the social system perform in regard to the entire system. Social structures are stressed and placed at the center of analysis, and social functions are deduced from these structures. It was developed by Talcott Parsons. The central concern of structural-functionalism was a continuation of the Durkheimian task of explaining the apparent stability and internal cohesion of societies which are necessary to ensure their continued existence over time. Societies are seen as coherent, bounded and fundamentally relational constructs, who function like organisms, with their various parts (social institutions) working together to maintain and reproduce them. The various parts of society are assumed to work in an unconscious, quasi-automatic fashion towards the maintenance of the overall social equilibrium. All social and cultural phenomena are therefore seen as being functional in the sense of working together to achieve this state and are effectively deemed to have a "life" of their own. They are then primarily analysed in terms of this function they play. Individuals are significant not in and of themselves but in terms of their status, their position in patterns of social relations, and their roles the behavior(s) associated with their status. The social structure is then the network of statuses connected by associated roles.

5 Quantitative and Qualitative

Quantitative research is research that aims to measure using numbers. Typical forms of quantitative research are surveys, in which many respondents are asked questions and their answers averaged and other statistics calculated and research based on administrative data where for example the number of people who have been patients in a hospital each month is counted. The aim is to create numerical description through a process of ‘coding’ verbal or textual data

Qualitative research most often describes scenes, gathers data through interviews, or analyzes the meaning of documents. Here one creates an account or description without numerical scores

In practice, the distinction between quantitative and qualitative is not absolute. Even in qualitative studies, it is common to count how many informants fall into one or other category

HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 Qualities of a good hypothesis

A hypothesis is a preliminary or tentative explanation or postulate by the researcher of what the researcher considers the outcome of an investigation will be. It is an informed/educated guess. It indicates the expectations of the researcher regarding certain variables. It is the most specific way in which an answer to a problem can be stated. E.g. If you hit a child with a cane, she will cry. Both a hypothesis and a problem contribute to the body of knowledge which supports or refutes an existing theory. A hypothesis differs from a problem. A problem is formulated in the form of a research question; it serves as the basis or origin from which a hypothesis is derived. A hypothesis is a suggested solution to a problem. A problem (question) cannot be directly tested, whereas a hypothesis can be tested and verified. (i) Hypothesis should be clear and precise. If the hypothesis is not clear and precise, the inferences drawn on its basis cannot be taken as reliable.
(ii) Hypothesis should be capable of being tested. In a swamp of untestable hypotheses, many a time the research programmes have bogged down. Some prior study may be done by researcher in order to make hypothesis a testable one. A hypothesis “is testable if other deductions can be made from it which, in turn, can be confirmed or disproved by observation.”

(iii) Hypothesis should state relationship between variables, if it happens to be a relational hypothesis.
(iv) Hypothesis should be limited in scope and must be specific. A researcher must remember that narrower hypotheses are generally more testable and he should develop such hypotheses.
(v) Hypothesis should be stated as far as possible in most simple terms so that the same is easily understandable by all concerned. But one must remember that simplicity of hypothesis has nothing to do with its significance.
(vi) Hypothesis should be consistent with most known facts i.e., it must be consistent with a substantial body of established facts. In other words, it should be one which judges accept as being the most likely.
(vii) Hypothesis should be amenable to testing within a reasonable time. One should not use even an excellent hypothesis, if the same cannot be tested in reasonable time for one cannot spend a life-time collecting data to test it.
(viii) Hypothesis must explain the facts that gave rise to the need for explanation. This means that by using the hypothesis plus other known and accepted generalizations, one should be able to deduce the original problem condition. Thus hypothesis must actually explain what it claims to explain; it should have empirical reference.

2 Qualities of a good research question.

In order to be systematic, clearly defined and specific, a research question must be researchable. To be researchable, a research question should have the following characteristics:

i. Interesting

The research question needs to be interesting to the researcher because without the ongoing motivation and enthusiasm of the researcher through out the duration of the project, the research project risks ultimate failure. If one is passionate or curious about the issue or problem under scrutiny, maintaining momentum in the research process becomes easier and the product more satisfying.

ii. Relevant

The question should also be interesting and relevant to the research community of which the research forms a part. Research is generally of interest to a research community when it makes a contribution to the collective knowledge base of a study area or discipline.

The orientation is to find a question, an unresolved controversy, a gap in knowledge or an unrequited need within the chosen subject. It is therefore desirable to maintain a balance between the specific research interests of the researcher and the interests of the research community as a whole

iii. Feasible

The research question should be stated in such a way that the project is feasible and has specific bounderies that make the project delimited and doable. Consideration needs to be given to the costs of the project, the time frame in which it is to be completed, the time and skills of the researcher(s) undertaking the project, and whether the access to research participants and information needed to complete the project are likely to be available.

iv. Ethical

It is desirable to reflect on the ethical dimensions of the research problemwhen institutional ethical procedures are required for project approval. Considering these issues from the outset, and embedding these considerations in the research question, will help to ensure that the research projectfulfils its ethical obligations, both professionally and institutionally.

v. Concise

The research question should be well articulated, its terms clearly defined, with as much precision as possible in written language. For example, research projects usually have a broad overarching theoretical frameworkthat informs the area of interest under scrutiny. The theoretical background however needs to be more specifically formulated and can be articulated in terms of specific concepts that are derived from previous theorizations and defined in terms of specific words or phrases in the research question. Research questions specify object(s) of research i.e social entities relationships and processes that are under scrutiny by the researcher.

vi. Answerable

The research question should be answerable. In order to make a research question answerable, it is desirable in the initial formulation of the research question to use an interrogative form eg who what when how which and why. Interrogatives serve to clarify the characteristics and objectives of the research i.e to suggest whether the research question is descriptive or analytical in nature.

Bibliography

Andrews, Richard (2003) Research Questions, Continuum, New York

Gray, David E, (2009) Doing Research In The Real World, SAGE publications limited, U.S.A

Nigel, Gilbert (2008) Researching Social Life, SAGE publications limited, U.S.A

Phillips, J et al (2002) The Project Management Scorecard, Butterworth Heinemann, U.S.A

www.cengage.com

www.rasearchmethodsresource.com

www.researchandparadigms.com