Paradigms, methodologies and methods in educational research

There is great debate about how to define paradigms, methodologies and methods. In this article, I have attempted to make sense of some of these debates and present a description of these concepts and related issues.

Paradigms

The concept of paradigms has been attributed to Thomas Khun from the natural sciences, who controversially proposed that paradigms are a collection of “concepts, variables and problems attached with corresponding methodological approaches and tools” (Dash, 2005) and, in time, paradigms are overturned by other paradigms (Pajares, n.d.). However, in the social sciences, paradigms are generally not discarded as others emerge because they represent different frameworks that reflect different points of view (Babbie, 2008) that are selected to suit the researcher or area of research (Somekh in Somekh and Lewin, 2005).

More recently, the term paradigm in educational research has come to mean a framework that determines the way knowledge is studied and interpreted and the motivation and goal of the research (Mackenzie and Knipe, 2006). Egon Guba expands this concept by outlining that paradigms are shaped by epistemological (the nature of knowledge), ontological (the nature of existence) and methodological (how the inquirer should go about finding out knowledge) questions (Gough, 2000).

Key paradigms are positivism, interpretivism, critical theory and poststructuralism. These paradigms are discussed in further detail in a separate article. Briefly, paradigms can be simplistically grouped into two categories: positivism, where knowledge is observable and measurable; and anti-positivism, where meaning is generated from the process of knowing and interpreting phenomena (Dash, 2005).

Methodology

Methodology is intertwined with or an aspect of a paradigm, as mentioned above. In this sense, methodology can also be defined as a conceptual framework (Gale, 1998) but specific to how research is approached and guided, that is, it provides the rationale for the research (Gough, 2000). It is the aspect of a paradigm that emphasises the question of how the research should proceed, not the theory of knowledge or existence, and is influenced by the researcher’s worldview (Gale, 1998; Gough, 2000). Methodologies or approaches include case study, ethnography, action research and discourse analysis.

Methodology is often used interchangeably with the term ‘method’. However, in the following section, a separate explanation of method is provided, distinguished from ‘methodology’.

Methods

Some authors distinguish between ‘method(s)’ and ‘techniques’ (e.g. Gale, 1998), where methods are concerned with how research is conducted and techniques are the instruments that collect and analyse data. However, in this article, I have presented that ‘methodology’ rather than ‘method’ captures how research should proceed. I also follow the explanation chosen by Gough (2000), that the terms ‘method’ and ‘technique’ can be used interchangeably, where a research method is the practical technique for data collection and analysis. Methods include tests, surveys, interviews, focus groups and observations. For example, within the case study methodology, common research methods include interviews and observation.

References

• Babbie, E. (2008). The basics of social research, (4th edn). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
• Dash, N. K. (2005). Module: Selection of the research paradigm and methodology. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/researchmethods/Modules/Selection_of_methodology/index.php.
• Gale, T. C. (1998). Methodological ‘maps’ and key assumptions: A framework for understanding research. Unpublished paper. Rockhampton, Qld: Faculty of Education, Central Queensland University.
• Gough, N. (2000, October 8). Methodologies under the microscope. Paper presented at the Deakin University Postgraduate Association research students’ conference, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic.
• Mackenzie, N. and Knipe, S. (2006, October). Research dilemmas: Paradigms, methods and methodology. Issues in Educational Research, 16(2), 193–205. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.iier.org.au/iier16/mackenzie.html.
• Pajares, F. (n.d.). Thomas Khun. Retrieved September 6, 2009 from http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhnsnap.html.
• Somekh, B. (2005) in Somekh, B., Burman, E., Delamont, S., Meyer, J., Payne, M. and Thorpe, R., ‘Research communities in the social sciences’. In Somekh, B. and Lewin, C. (eds). Research methods in the social sciences. London: Sage Publications.