ABSTRACT
The explicit mention of the researcher’s paradigm allows the consumers of the research to better assess it in relation to the study. A paradigm has three main uses: ground instrumentation and instrumental techniques that bring the laws of the paradigm to bear on the real world; guide work within the paradigm; and prescribe how to conduct work within the paradigm. Paradigmatic beliefs determine which theories and methodologies a researcher may find acceptable to use to answer the study questions. Researchers and philosophers of education continue to propose what they see as new and different paradigms. Across academic fields, there are four general categories of paradigms that are commonly recognized in the literature and that can be considered “grand” paradigms. These are: structuralist/positivist, interpretivist, critical, and constructivist. A reaction to positivism, interpretivist paradigms in general hold that objectivity is a useful but not necessarily attainable ideal, particularly in natural settings such as classrooms.
