Alternate Research Paradigms

Rajani K
rajanimk@tiss.edu
School of Human Ecology
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

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How do we know?

• Any ideas?
• How do we know that something is truth?
• What is real, reality? – Ontology
– Personal experiences of knowing? Share your ideas (I will
share mine as well)! Did you see individual differences?
– How do different species experience reality
– Are there discomforts about a reality out there? Is reality
absolute?
– Who determines what is truth/real?
– How do we go about finding out?

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Questions on Epistemology
• Questions That We Might Have on what is broadly referred to
as Epistemology
– Being introduced to qualitative research, there is a need to
know the difference

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Epistemology
• What is it that we want to know, what is its basic nature
(assumptions of reality) – what is the nature of reality? –
theory of knowledge itself, how do we know? - Ontology
• There is something or someone to be known and there is
a researcher, knower – what is this relationship? –
Epistemology. What sort of things exist and what are the
assumptions about reality? The concern is with social
reality as well.
• How do we then go about doing research – methodology
or the appropriate methodology?

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Types of Research
• Quantitative and Qualitative
• What are the features and what is happening in the two
cases?
• You also nature of research in Psychology (as scientific)
• We can reflect a little more on the nature of subject
matter and what should be the methods to study it?

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Doing of research
• What is it that we want to know, what is its basic nature
(assumptions of reality) – what is the nature of reality? –
theory of knowledge itself, how do we know? - Ontology
• There is something or someone to be known and there is
a researcher, knower – what is this relationship? –
Epistemology. What sort of things exist and what are the
assumptions about reality? The concern is with social
reality as well.
• How do we then go about doing research – methodology
or the appropriate methodology?

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Basic premises - paradigm
• Basic premise of the epistemology, ontology and
methodology – research paradigm
• Subject matter paradigms – assumptions about cause of
behavior in Psychology – various schools of
psychology/theories of personality…Broadly also what is
the subject matter of psychology?
• What is a paradigm…defintion.

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Paradigm
-thoughts, perceptions, and values that form a
particular vision of reality – Kuhn, 1970
(from the Greek work ‘paradeigma” – ‘pattern)
-Also includes how we understand reality, relate to
reality and life.
History of philosophy (included in what we call
‘science’ in the 19th and 20th Century)

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Research Paradigm
l Paradigm – a set of beliefs, assumptions which provide a framework (for
understanding reality)
l Paradigms – assumptions about the subject matter of a discipline
l Research Paradigm - What is it?
l The basic assumptions about the Knower and the subject/matter.
l Relationship of the knower to the reality or the knowable (psychological realities are
also there).
l Assumption about the nature of reality.
l Axiology – what are the value stances? Ethical stances
l Rhetorical – language of communication – first person, informal or formal writing....?
l THERE ARE SUBJECT PARADIGMS – WHAT IS OR ARE THE
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN PSYCHOLOGY?
l Philosophy and science have debated it for a long time? What are the differences
between them? Why did they remain apart for a long time (in the history of philo.)
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Philosophy (subjective) and Science (objective ) (From
O’Leary)

l SCIENCE: PHILOSOPHY (SUBJECTIVE):

intuitive, arm - chair thinking (the use
l Manipulation of observation; not made
(experimentation) explicit),
observation bias, emotional &
l Replicable personal content
l Controlled conditions logic/analytical procedure not explicit
to understand understanding (personal wisdom)
l Understand, predict & control pertains to human beings and their
experience; more difficult to study
& understand
guidelines for living well.

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 Science in socio-historical perspective

n Philosophy which was theorising with or without empirical

testing
n Science which was emphasising empirical verification to
build theories
n Social, historical or issues of the mind/soul, values for
living and religious matters - out of the ambit of science
n You have Sampson (in O'Leary) listing the goals and
philosophical positions on the Ontology, Epistemology
and methodology (we will see more when we look at the
differences in qualitative and quantitative research)

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A brief history of epistemology ….
• A brief history of epistemology, ontology and
methodology.
• Reality is out there – individual/researcher makes sense
of things
• A stable, predictable world…postulates…our senses can
capture all or through instruments We can capture all!
• Historically a number of observations and furtherance of
the philosophical-psychology thoughts on perception led
to the emergence of varied paradigms.
• Do you have any discomfort with the assumption of a
reality out there?
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Evidence for the search for alternative paradigm/s
l Historical evidences of bias,
l Observer characteristics ( astronomer, assistants were blamed for
the differences in the unexpected readings)
l Dual or multiple facets of a phenomenon were either overlooked or
blamed on the observer's errors/limitations,
l Or were discussed as anomalies.

l Major developments in physics revealed the complexity as well as

the fact that reality is multiply manifested and the reason is that
subjective elements are always present. So there is no one truth!
l Examples that lead to such a view?

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l Social Sciences too have dominant paradigms.
• Methodologically, qualitative paradigm has been introduced to social
sciences like Sociology, Political Sciences, Economics, and Applied
Sciences, Psychology.
l (Psychology at times is classified with humanity and clinicians are
familiar with the subjective paradigm); Social Anthropology has been
using it;
l Humanity subjects, like literature, education have been utilising them
l Otherwise it (Social Sciences) followed the dominant mode of positivism
- even today most research is of positivistic nature
l Qualitative research: (Distinguish between an approach & using it as a
method of data collection). Qualitative approach as adhering to an
entire paradigm - basic assumptions about the knower & the
knowable (reality), and how one goes about doing research.
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 Alternative Research Paradigms.
1990 - by Egon Guba; Lincoln, 2000

l A Paradigm to answer the following questions:

l 1) Ontological: What is the nature of “Knowledge”? Or, What is the

nature of “reality”?

l 2) Epistemological: What is the nature of the relationship between the

knower (the inquirer) and the known (or knowable/the subject matter –
what is the nature of your subject matter)?

l 3) Methodological: How should the inquirer go about finding out

knowledge?

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 Positivism
Ontology Realist
- reality exists “out there”
u and is driven by immutable natural laws and mechanisms.
u Knowledge of these entities, laws and mechanisms is conventionally
summarized in the form of time and context-free generalizations.
u Some of these latter generalizations take the form of cause - effect
laws.

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Positivism
Epistemology: Dualist/objectivist
- it is both possible and essential for the inquirer to adopt a distant, non-
interactive posture.
u The knower and the knowable are separate.
u Values and other biasing and confounding factors are thereby
automatically excluded from influencing the outcomes.
u (Human beings assumed to be at the pinnacle of the animal
hierarchy and that we have developed our senses to know the one
truth that exists out there!)
Methodology: Experimental/Control of variables
u questions or/and hypotheses are stated in advance in prepositional
form
u and subjected to empirical tests (falsification) under carefully
controlled conditions.
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Post - positivism

Ontology: critical realism, humans with their limitations cannot

understand the world; but reality exists out there.

Epistemology: Striving to be neutral, “coming clean” about one’s

assumptions. Peer evaluation and peer approval emphasized. No new
paradigms.

Methodology: Multiplism; different sources of data, therefore findings are

less distorted.

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Critical Theory

Ontology: Critical realist - reality exists out there, but can never be fully
apprehended. It is driven by natural laws that can be only incompletely
understood.
Epistemology: Subjectivist, values mediate inquiry. Therefore the stance of
the knower, who the knower is, is very important. Research findings
have the bias of the knower, he or she creates a particular world view.
Methodology: dialogic, transformative, eliminate false consciousness and
energize and facilitate transformation.

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Constructivism
Ontology: Relativist - realities mental constructions; socially & experientially
based, local & specific, form & content dependent on the people who hold
them. Comes from phenomenology – base in philosophy, perception and its
development as a basis for the building of knowledge
Epistemology - Subjectivist; inquirer & inquired fused into one (monistic);
findings creation of the interaction between the two.
Methodology: Hermeneutic, dialectic
u Hermeneutics - depict individual constructions as accurately as
possible.
u Dialectic – tension between conflicting ideas; the art of investigating
truth through discussion; debate intended to resolve a conflict between
or apparently contradictory ideas or parts logically; establishing truths
on both sides rather than disapproving one argument. 22
Participatory paradigm
l Ontology – participative reality - subjective-objective reality, co-created
by mind and given cosmos.

l Epistemology – critical subjectivity in participator transaction with

cosmos; extended epistemology of experiential, propositional and
practical knowing; co-created findings

l Political participation in collaborative action inquiry; use of language

grounded in shared experiential context
(Source: Paradigms and their premise – Cresswell, Table 6.3 -
Text loaded on TISSOL).

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