=========================================================================== Interpretivism and positivism are two popular research paradigms. To understand both, it is best to start with understanding what research paradigm means. What is Research Paradigm and How it is Represented? A research paradigm is defined as a “set of common beliefs and agreements” shared by researchers regarding “how problems should be understood and addressed” (Kuhn, 1962). Therefore, this is a specific way of perceiving the world (a worldview) that shape how we seek answers to research questions.

Difference Between Positivist, Interpretive and Critical Sociology. The study of sociology requires a careful balance of facts, critical analysis, and perspective. He holds a Master of Arts in comparative literature and is the creator of.

As Guba (1990) argued, a research paradigm is mainly characterised by its ontological, epistemological and methodological dispositions. What is Ontology and What is Epistemology? Before I begin to explain, let me assure you that these are two of the complex (philosophical) terms/ideas that not just me but many other researchers I know have struggled to grasp during early days of their academic lives. Understanding the two concepts makes it much easier to understand the nature of different research paradigms and their methodological applications.

Remember, understanding is the key here, not remembering the definitions. As a PhD student (7 years ago), I tried to understand by reading everything I could find but it only gave me a theoretical level understanding. However, once I began to apply the constructs to everyday life and all sorts of academic/non-academic problems that we come across in mundane life, it helped me to become more comfortable with the two terms and their research implications.

I still use this in qualitative research sessions to aid student understanding. Nevertheless, let us begin with definitions. Ontology is the nature of reality (Hudson and Ozanne, 1988) and the epistemology is the relationship between the researcher and the reality or how this reality is captured or known (Carson et al., 2001). Following is my understanding and interpretation of the two terms.

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Ontology is concerned with identifying the overall nature of existence of a particular phenomenon. When we seek answers (reality) to our research questions, we are referring to a particular type of knowledge that exist external to the researcher. It is just the way things are. On the contrary, epistemology is about how we go about uncovering this knowledge (that is external to researcher) and learn about reality. So it is concerned with questions such as how do we know what is true and how do we distinguish true from falls? Therefore, epistemology is internal to the researcher.

It is how they see the world around them. For example, if you were asked whether it will rain tomorrow, there are two obvious responses to this question (YES or NO). Can they be any other responses here? What about the relationship between two constructs (e.g. Price and Demand/Advertising and Market Share).

We know that there are at least a finite number of relationships. But what is your response if I say that I have asked my partner to stay home, take care of the kids, and manage household things. Is it right or wrong?

How many responses will we get from a classroom of students? Some will say “NO” categorically, whilst some international students might say “YES”. There are also some students that say, “it depends” and continue with follow up questions regard how close our extended families live by, our current financial situation, the sort of job my wife does etc. The response to this question unlike the previous is contextually bound and multiple. The nature of reality (ontological disposition) that the above two questions refer to is distinct from one another.

The first question refers to a reality that is dichotomous. There are similar questions in our everyday life that refers to such realities (right/wrong, true/falls, good/bad, etc.).

This dichotomous reality exists independent of who is doing the research and two different researchers, therefore, will be able to arrive at same conclusions. We see a positivistic ontology here. On the contrary, the nature of reality that the second question refers to is contextually bound. There are multiple realities that will result depending on who is doing the research and where/when the research is conducted.