RM2 QUALI Literature - Guba and Lincoln (1994)

Guba and Lincoln (1994)

Competing paradigms in qualitative research

Paradigms in ontology

What is reality?

Paradigms in epistemology

What is the relationship between the knower and the known?

Paradigms in methodology

How can knowledge be obtained?

Positivism ontology

Naive realism - reality exists, independent and discoverable

Positivism epistemology

Dualist/objectivist - researcher stands apart, can know truth objectively

Positivism methodology

Experimental/manipulative - hypothesis testing (largely quant)

Post-positivism ontology

Critical realism - reality exists but is imperfectly knowable

Post-positivism epistemology

Modified dualist/objectivist - objectivity as a regulatory ideal, findings probably true

Post-positivism methodology

Modified experimental/manipulative - falsification of hypotheses, use of quant and quali methods

Critical Theory ontology

Historical realism - reality shaped by political, social, economic and cultural forces, crystallised over time

Critical Theory epistemology

Transactional/subjectivist - knowledge is value-mediated and tied to power

Critical Theory methodology

Dialogic/dialectical - aim towards critique, transformation and emancipation

Constructivism ontology

Relativism - multiple, socially constructed realities

Constructivism epistemology

Transactional/subjectivist - findings created in interactions between researcher and participants

Constructivism methodology

Hermeneutical/dialectical - aiming at joint construction/reconstruction of meanings

Importance of paradigms in quali research 1

Shape researchers’ perception of valid questions, evidence and knowledge

Importance of paradigms in quali research 2

Shape ethics, values, voices and the researcher’s role