RESEARCH PARADIGM IN

INFORMATION SCIENCE
Ts. Dr. Khalid Abdul Wahid
Faculty of Information Management
Unviersiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kelantan
Tel: 09-7962233/ 013-9030434
Email: awkhalid@uitm.edu.my
 Learning objectives
• After studying this topic, you should be able to
– Describe the main features of positivism
– Describe the main features of interpretivism
– Compare the assumptions of the two main
paradigms
– Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
pragmatism
– Identify your research paradigm

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 Research paradigms
• A research paradigm ‘is a framework that guides
how research should be conducted, based on
people’s philosophies and their assumptions about
the world and the nature of knowledge’ (Collis &
Hussey, 2009, p. 55)
– Philosophy is ‘the use of reason and argument in seeking
truth and knowledge, especially of ultimate reality or of
general causes and principles’ (Oxford Compact
Dictionary and Thesaurus, 1997, p. 557)
• A little history helps explain why there is more
than one view of reality and valid knowledge ...
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 The natural sciences
• Until the late 19th century, research had focused
on the study of inanimate objects in the natural
world and led to the discovery of physical
laws/theory (Smith, 1983)
• Eg Sir Isaac Newton’s law of gravitation (1687)
– ‘Every particle of matter attracts every other
particle of matter with a force proportional
to the product of the particles’ masses
and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them’ (Oxford,
1998, p. 969)
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 Birth of the social sciences
• With the advent of industrialisation and
capitalism, attention turned to the social
world
• But, before long, the new social scientists
began to question the suitability of the
methods used by the natural scientists, which
led to a heated debate (see Smith, 1983)

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 Advocates
• Theorists who advocated social scientists should
take the same approach as natural scientists were
known as realists (eg Compte, Mill and Durkheim)
– They argued that the empiricist approach of observation
and experiment established by physicists (eg Newton)
was also appropriate in the social sciences
• Their beliefs were based on positivism
– Reality exists independently of us, so it can be
measured objectively
– Therefore, the researcher uses quantitative methods
leading to the discovery of laws/theory (eg chemistry)
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 Challengers
• Theorists who challenged the positivist paradigm
can be labelled loosely as idealists
– They argued that social science is the study of
ourselves
• The more recent paradigm called interpretivism is
based on their beliefs
– Reality exists within us, so the researcher is inseparable
from that being researched
– Therefore, the researcher uses subjective, qualitative
methods leading to interpretive understanding (eg.
behavioural psychology)
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 New approaches within the main
paradigms
• Since the original debate in the late 19th century,
many different approaches have been developed
and today, few researchers apply the pure forms of
idealism, positivism, realism and interpretivism
• New paradigms emerge as a reaction to the
perceived inadequacy of previous paradigms
• It takes time for new methods to become
accepted; hence the use of derogatory terms such
as ‘number-crunchers’ or ‘storytellers’ (Smith,
1983, p. 6)
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 TYPES OF RESEARCH
PARADIGM?
Guba (1990) Creswell Saunders et Wahyuni Scotland Williamson
(2009) al (2011) (2012) (2012) (2013)

1.Positivism 1.Post-positivism 1.Pragmatism 1.Positivism 1.Scientific 1.Positivism

2.Post-positivism 2.Constructivism 2.Positivism 2.Post-positivism 2.Interpretivism 2.Post-positivism
3.Critical Theory 3.Advocacy / 3.Realism 3.Interpretivism 3.Critical 3.Interpretivism
4.Constructivism Participatory 4.Interpretivism 4.Pragmatism
4.Pragmatism
Examples of approaches within the main
paradigms

Positivism Interpretivism

Quantitative Qualitative

Objective Subjective

Scientific Humanist

Traditionalist Phenomenological

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Core assumptions of the main paradigms

• Before you can design your study, you need to

identify your research paradigm
• The starting point is to consider five
philosophical questions relating to the core
assumptions that underpin the two main
paradigms
• Creswell (1994, p. 5) provides a summary, but he
emphasises these are ideal characteristics and
research studies seldom possess all the
characteristics of either paradigm ...
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 COMPONENTS OF RESEARCH
PARADIGM?
Ontology Assumption about the nature of reality

Epistemology Assumption about what constitutes valid

knowledge

Axiology Assumption about the role of values

Rhetorical Assumption about the language of research

Methodology Assumption about the process of research

Core assumptions of the main paradigms

1. Ontological assumption about the nature of

reality
– Positivism: Objective and singular
– Interpretivism: Subjective and multiple as seen by
participants in a study
2.Epistemological assumption about what
constitutes valid knowledge
– Positivism: Researcher is independent
– Interpretivism: Researcher interacts with that being
researched
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 Core assumptions (continued)
3. Axiological assumption about the role of values
– Positivism: Research is value-free and unbiased
– Interpretivism: Research is value-laden and biased
4. Rhetorical assumption about the language of
research
Positivism: Formal language with set definitions, the
impersonal voice and accepted quantitative words
Interpretivism: Informal language with evolving
decisions, the personal voice and accepted
qualitative words
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 Core assumptions (continued)
5. Methodological assumption about the process of the
research
– Positivism: A deductive process; the study of cause and
effect with a static design (categories isolated before
study); research is context free; generalisations lead to
prediction, explanation and understanding; results are
accurate and reliable through validity and reliability
– Interpretivism: An inductive process, the study of mutual
simultaneous shaping of factors with an emerging design
(categories identified during study); context bound;
patterns/theories developed for understanding; findings
are accurate and reliable through verification
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 Key concepts
• Reliability refers to the absence of differences
in the results if the research were repeated
• Validity is the extent to which the research
findings accurately represent the phenomena
under study
• Generalizability is the extent to which the
research findings (often based on a sample)
can be extended to other cases (often a
population) or to other settings
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Features of the main paradigms
Positivism tends to
– Use large samples
– Have an artificial location
– Focus on hypothesis
testing
– Produce precise,
objective, quantitative
data
– Produce results with high
reliability but low validity
– Allow results to be
generalized from the
sample to the population
Number-crunchers?
Interpretivism tends to
– Use small sample
– Have a natural location
– Focus on generating
theories
– Produce rich, subjective,
qualitative data
– Produce results with low
reliability but high validity
– Allow results to be
generalized from one
setting to a similar setting
Story-tellers?
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 A continuum of approaches
• The different approaches can be classified
according to their core assumptions and placed
on a continuum
Example: Ontological assumptions
<——————————————————————>
Positivism Interpretivism
Reality as Reality as Reality as Reality as a
a concrete a concrete a social
projection of
structure process construction imagination

(Adapted from Morgan and Smircich, 1980, p. 492)

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 Conclusions
• Identifying your paradigm at an early stage is
important because it guides how your research
should be conducted
– In the past, there was a major schism between the
natural scientists and the emerging social scientists
• Today, the two main paradigms can be loosely
labelled as positivism and interpretivism
– They lie at the extremities of a continuum of
paradigms, each based on different philosophical
assumptions about reality and the nature of knowledge
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The End
The End