1. The document discusses paradigm debates in educational research, outlining the key differences between positivist and interpretivist paradigms in terms of ontology, epistemology, methodology, axiology, and rhetoric. 2. It also examines four main epistemological positions - positivist, constructivist, transformative, and postcolonial indigenous. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research approaches are then compared based on their assumptions about the nature of reality, knowledge, values, and methodology. 3. In closing, the author expresses that their future philosophical position will be interpretivist/constructionist, as they believe realities are multiple and constructed through interaction and negotiation with others.

1. Dilla university
Institute of Education and Behavioural Science
Advanced Qualitative Research Methods
Paradigm Debates in Educational Researches
Presentation
By ; Milkiyas Asso/PhD Fellow/
Jan. 17,2022
Dilla/ Ethiopia
1

2. Presentation outline
• Paradigm Debates in Educational Researches
 Ontological paradigm debates
 Epistemological paradigm debates
 Axiological paradigm debates
 Methodological paradigm debates
 Rhetoric paradigm debates
Epistemological positions in educational research to the four
paradigm
• Positivist , Constructivist, Transformative & Post colonial
Research approaches
• Assumptions about the Nature of Reality, Knowledge, Values and
methodology
• My future philosophical position
2

3. Paradigm Debates in Educational Researches
Introduction
Paradigm- is a shared world view that represents the beliefs and
values in a discipline and that guides how problems are solved
(Schwandt, 2001).
• the progress of scientific practice based on people’s
philosophies and assumptions about the world and the nature
of knowledge (Collis and Hussey, 2003 )
• Guba and Lincoln (2005) state that every research conductor owns
a paradigm that directs the study, a perspective of the process of
knowledge production consisting of the main compounds of ,
• epistemology (nature of knowledge)
• ontology (nature of existence/reality)
• methodology (the most proper ways to construct knowledge)
• axiology (the role of values in knowledge formation). 3

4. Ontological paradigm debates in Educational
Research
Ontological questions in social science research
are related to the nature of reality.
• the philosophical standpoint about the nature of
existence or reality, of being or becoming
simply called theory of reality
there are two broad and contrasting positions:
objectivism and interpretivism
4

5. • Epistemology poses the following questions: What is the
relationship between the knower and what is known?
How do we know what we know? What counts as
knowledge?
• Methodology is a research strategy that translates
ontological and epistemological Principles into
guidelines that show how research is to be conducted
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6. 1. Ontological paradigm debates in Educational
Research
positivists
there is an independent reality
Reality is singular
A researcher with a positivist orientation
regards reality as being ‘out there’ in the
world and needing to be discovered using
conventional scientific methodologies
People, using their senses, can observe
this reality and the discoveries
- realist/objectivist ontology
interpretivists
cannot accept the idea of there being a
reality ‘out there’, which exists
irrespective of people
subjective and multiple
They see reality as a human construct (Mutch,
2005)
views reality and meaning making as socially
constructed/
- constructionalist ontology
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7. 2. Epistemological paradigm debates in Educational
Research
Positivism
knowledge is a given and must be
studied using objective ways
reliable knowledge is based on
direct observation or
manipulation of natural
phenomena through empirical
means
empiricist epistemology
interpretivism
assert that, since reality is mind
constructed and mind dependent
and knowledge subjective
interpretivist epistemology
7

8. 3 Methodological Paradigm Debates in Educational
Research
Positivists
Underpins quantitative methodology
relies heavily on experimentation
Emphasis is on measuring
variables and testing hypotheses
that are linked to general causal
explanations
Data collection techniques focus
on gathering hard data in the form
of numbers to enable evidence to
be presented in quantitative form
interpretivists
Qualitative methodology is underpinned
Are inductive, that is, oriented toward
discovery and process
Are less concerned with generalizability,
and are more concerned with deeper
understanding of the research problem
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9. 4. Axiological Paradigm Debates in Education Research
 concerns the role of researcher values in the scientific
process
Positivists
there is no place for values in
the research process
This implies that one’s values,
hopes, expectations, and feelings
have no place in scientific inquiry
using standardized, systematic investigative
methods, the researcher eliminates or
strictly controls any influence on the
participants/research process
interpretivists
researcher’s values and lived
experience cannot be divorced
from the research process
researcher should acknowledge,
describe, and “bracket” his or her
values, but not eliminate them
it is a fallacy to even think that one
could eliminate value biases in such
an interdependent researcher–
participant interaction.
9

10. 5. Rhetorical paradigm issues in Educational
Research
• Rhetoric refers to the language used to present the procedures and
results of research to one’s intended audience
positivist
rhetoric is precise and
“scientific,” presented in
an objective manner
objectivity and a detached,
emotionally neutral
research role prevails
interpretivist
the final research report
is in the first person and
is often personalized
a subjective and
interactive researcher
role prevails
10

11. 2. Epistemological positions in educational research
to the four paradigm positions
• epistemology is a theory of knowledge concerning
beliefs about “how phenomena can come to be
known” (Giacomini, 2010);
• is concerned with “the nature, sources, and limits of
knowledge,” and that it provides “a justificatory
account of the scientific production of knowledge”
• involves knowledge and embodies a certain
understanding of what is entailed in knowing, that
represents how we know what we know.
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12. 1. Positivist paradigm
• view knowledge as those statements of belief or
fact that can be tested empirically, can be
confirmed and verified or disconfirmed, and are
stable and can be generalized
• Knowledge constitutes hard data, is objective and,
therefore, independent of the values, interest and
feelings of the researcher
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13. 2. Constructivist paradigm
• constructivists believe that knowledge is
subjective, because it is socially constructed and
mind dependent. Truth lies within the human
experience
• refers to the meaning that comes into existence in
and out of human engagement with the realities
in the world due to there is no truth waiting to
discover it as well no meaning without a mind
13

14. 3. Transformative/Emancipatory paradigm
• that knowledge is true, if it can be turned into practice
that empowers and transforms the lives of the people
• theory is the basic tool that helps the researcher to find
new facts
• True knowledge in this context lies in the collective
meaning-making by the people, which can inform
individual and group action that improves the lives of the
people
• Knowledge is constructed from the participants’ frame of
reference
14

15. 4. Postcolonial Indigenous paradigm
• A relational epistemology is all the systems of
knowledge built on relationships
• Knowledge is shared with all of creation
15

16.  Research approaches
• Creswell (1994) identified that there are two types
of research paradigms based on the assumptions
of the paradigms.
• Firstly, the quantitative paradigm is termed
traditional, positivist, experimental, or empiricist
paradigm.
• Secondly, the qualitative paradigm is termed,
constructivist approach or naturalistic,
interpretative approach
16

17. Qualitative Research Approach
• is a systematic inquiry into the nature or qualities
of complex social group behaviors by employing
interpretive and naturalistic approaches
• are most appropriate when the researcher wants
to become more familiar with the phenomenon
of interest , to achieve a deep understanding of
how people think about a topic and to describe in
detail the perspectives of the research participants.
17

18. Quantitative approach
• Attempts to explain phenomena by collecting and
analysing numerical data
• Data collected are always numerical and analysed
using statistical methods
• the deductive approach relates more to the
positivist philosophy
18

19. 3. The Mixed research approach
• a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches
(designs and methods) in one study or a set of
related studies
• can be done either concurrently when conducting
both parts at the same time or sequentially one part
first and the other second
• core assumption of the mixed research approach is
that mixing both methods provides a complete
understanding of the research problem than using
only one type of methods
19

20. Assumptions about the Nature of Reality, Knowledge, Values
and methodology
Assum
ptions
about
Qualitative Research
Approach/Constructivism
Quantitative Research
Approach/positivism
The Mixed Research
Approach/pragmatism
Nature
of
Reality
 Reality is
subjective and
multiple, as seen
by participants in
a study
 believe that
reality is socially
constructed
 Mind dependent
 constructionalist
ontology
 reality is
objectively given
 Reality is singular,
apart from the
researcher
 a belief in an
objective, real
world
 Realist ontology
 is inter subjective
 being subjective
and objective at the
same time
 both the objective
and subjective
views of reality
 existence of one
reality and that
individuals have
multiple
interpretations of
this reality 20

21. cont..
Assumptio
ns about
Qualitative Research
Approach
Quantitative
Research Approach
The Mixed Research
Approach
knowledge
 believe that
knowledge
is subjective
 Truth lies
within the
human
experience
 interpretivist
epistemolog
y
 view knowledge
as those
statements of
belief or fact
that can be
tested
empirically
 double-faced
knowledge
 Can be seen as
observable or
unobservable based
on the ontological
position of the
researcher
21

22. Cont..
Assumpti
ons
about
Qualitative Research
Approach
Quantitative
Research Approach
The Mixed Research
Approach
Values
 social inquiry is
in turn value-
bound and
value-laden
 researchers are
inevitably
influenced by
their values
 which inform
the paradigm
they choose for
inquiry, topic to
be studied,
analyze data etc.
 all inquiries
should be value-
free and un
biased
 researchers
should use the
scientific
methods of
gathering data to
achieve
objectivity and
neutrality
 researcher believes
that there is nothing
can be called value-
free or bias-free
research not even
from positivism
point of view.
- Biased of researchers
22

23. Cont..
Assumptions
about
Qualitative Research
Approach
Quantitative
Research Approach
The Mixed
Research
Approach
Methodology
 Common designs
include
ethnography,
phenomenology,
biography, case
study and
grounded theory
 Data gathering
techniques,
interviews,
observations,
visual aids,
personal and
official
documents,
 experimental, quasi-
experimental,
correlational, causal
comparative,
quantitative and
randomized control
trials research
 Data gathering
instruments include
questionnaires,
observations,
experiments and
tests
 researcher
uses a mix of
quantitative
and
qualitative
approaches
(designs and
methods) in
one study or a
set of related
studies
23

24. 5. My future philosophical position
• Philosophy determines our belief, value, culture,
way of life and future destination/decisions
• As it can be seen from each of the philosophical
paradigms, there are both strength and
weaknesses, which can be shaped by different
strategies
• Thus, my future philosophical orientation will be
interpretivism/ constructionist position.
24

25. Cont..
• Because, ontologically, I view that there are
multiple realities exist in the real world which can
be addressed and become more fact when there
must be strong collaboration or interaction with
the real world/ both the material and human
world/
• Moreover, detailed investigation and getting first
hand information/data need direct involvement of
my self.
25

26. Cont..
• Reasonably I believe in constructing meaning or
knowledge personally is a little bit weaker that
through negotiation in groups.
• Because when interacting with other people and
discussing on an issue is surely important for detailed
knowledge making than independently constructing
meaning.
• Therefore, it is my contention/suggestion that enable
and empowers me to conduct research in a way
fitting my self to the interpretivist/ constructivist
position.
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