Research Paradigms; quantitative,
qualitative and mixed methods research
MA Applied Linguistics & TESOL; MA TESOL
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“A set of basic beliefs (or metaphysics) … It represents
a world view that
defines, for its holder,
◦ the nature of the ‘world’,
◦ the individual ’s place in it, and
◦ the range of possible relationships to that world and its
parts…
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The beliefs are basic in the sense that they must be
accepted simply on faith; there is no way to establish
their ultimate truthfulness.” (Guba & Lincoln,
1994:107)
“frameworks that function as maps or guides for
scientific communities, determining important
problems or issues for it members to address
and
defining acceptable theories or explanations, methods
and techniques to solve defined problems.” (Usher
1996:15)
Do the beliefs of researchers (i.e. the scientific
communities) in Physics, Philosphy, English
Literature, Education, and Applied Linguistics &
TESOL differ?
Beliefs can be about
Ontology
and
Epistemology
The nature of reality, what is, and what can be
known about it
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REALIST: the world out there is real, and can be
studied and understood to identify the rules that
govern behaviour
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RELATIVIST: there is no single reality independent
of our ways of understanding it
The nature of knowledge, and the relationship between
knower and known
“the study of how knowledge is constructed about the world,
who constructs it, and what criteria they use to create
meaning and methodology” (Usher, 1996, p. 131)
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OBJECTIVIST: truth is accessible, and it is possible to
establish general truths and laws
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SUBJECTIVIST: knowledge is created through interaction
between the world and the individual, and we can explore
this relationship to understand how the world is interpreted
and understandings are constructed.
Based on their beliefs, researchers choose
paradigm:
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Positivism
Constructivism (Interpretivism)
Critical Research (post-positivism)
Feminism
Pragmatism
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“…scientists test claims. They test them by making
predictions about the world, which they try to
confirm or disconfirm by experiment and
observation. They try to increase the accuracy of
those experiments and observations by devising new
methods and instruments.” (Gregg: 2000:389)
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The researcher is an observer
Knowledge is ‘hard’, ‘real’, & can be transmitted in tangible form
People are regarded collectively
Human behaviour is rule-governed
The researcher considers that what s/he writes represents what
s/he observes – a transparent description that reflects the world.
The researcher considers him/herself objective and neutral, and
his/her knowledge value-free
Causation is important: it lies in the past
Certainty and control are important
[For a summary of positivism v. interpretivism, go to slide 22.]
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People are studied in terms of how they ‘behave’
Research methods are those of the natural science
Data is obtained by surveys, tests and experiments
Relationships and regularities are analyzed
quantitatively (e.g. statistically)
The researcher likes to predict (e.g. cause and
effect)
The researcher derives universal laws or
generalizations and explains by showing how
things in the world correspond with these
laws/generalizations
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depersonalising / dehumanising
a mechanistic and reductionist conception of
nature which excludes choice, freedom, moral
responsibility...
restricts, simplifies and controls a complex reality
to the point where its findings are no longer useful
sense-data / observations are not theory-free...
data and its interpretation are not separate
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Interpretation and understanding of social meanings is
mediated through language, which is neither
transparent nor a mirror, but opaque and constitutive
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“... in studying social realities we are not dealing with a
reality made up of ‘brute fact’ or a reality of external
‘thing-like’ forces and objects, but one that is
intersubjectively constituted by persons relating to each
other through practices identified and given meaning by
the language used to describe them, invoke them, and
carry them out” (Hughes, p117)
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In pure positivist research, the scientific method
involves experimentation, with the use of a control
group. This approach is rarely taken in educational
research where the approach is more likely to be quasiexperimental. Experimentation almost always raises
ethical issues in educational research:
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"The essential feature of experimental research is that
investigators deliberately control and manipulate the
conditions which determine the events in which they are
interested." (Cohen & Manion, 1994: 164)
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Most social science and educational research is postpositivist rather than purely positivist.
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accepts and tries to address some of the criticisms
of crude positivism
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recognises that reality can only be imperfectly
understood
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relies on the possibility of falsification.
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"The principal concern is with an understanding of
the way in which the individual creates, modifies
and interprets the world in which he or she finds
himself or herself." (Cohen and Manion, 1994, p. 8)
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"the task of the social scientist should not be to
gather facts and measure how often certain patterns
occur, but to appreciate the different constructions
and meanings that people place upon their
experience." (Easterby-Smith et al, 1994, p.78)
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"the world and 'reality' are not objective and
exterior, but …are socially constructed and given
meaning by people." (Easterby-Smith, et al, 1994, p.
78)
It is assumed that all human action is meaningful,
“and hence has to be interpreted and understood
within the context of social practices.” (Usher, 1996,
p.18)
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Knowledge is ‘soft’, subjective, and based on experience and
insight derived from studying actors in particular, natural
settings
The researcher is involved, engaged with the site in which
she is working, and may be transformed by the experience
The researcher tells stories about the worlds s/he has
studied
Data is obtained by participant observation, personal
accounts, semi-structured interviews...
The data is analysed qualitatively to understand how people
create, modify and interpret the world
The unique and particular, and the individual is valued
The researcher wants to understand the subjective world of
human experience from within
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Human beings are active creators of knowledge, and
reality as inter-subjectively constituted and shared, within a
historical, political and social context.
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The researcher does not primarily look for cause and
effect
The researcher is interested in actions, assumptions
and meanings beneath the texture of everyday life
Theory emerges from particular situations, grounded in
particular data
Methods are multiple, triangulated, to find a solution to
a concrete situation, to secure a deep understanding
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Qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an
interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This
means that qualitative researchers study things in their
natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret,
phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them.
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Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a
variety of empirical materials – case study, personal
experience, introspective, life story, interview,
observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts –
that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings
in individuals’ lives. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy
a wide range of unconnected methods, hoping always to get
a better fix on the subject matter at hand.
(Denzin & Lincoln, 1994:2)
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The individuals’ own perspectives are not to be
trusted (they are not objective)
Individual perspectives are partial - they still have
to be knit together into an explicit and
comprehensive body of knowledge
If we abandon scientific procedures of verification,
and give up hope of making generalisations, then do
we not start writing literature, or biography, or
journalism?
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Meanings and interpretations may be the product of
the circumstances and the power of others to
impose their own meanings.
We need to move beyond the individuals’
interpretation towards a theoretical explanation of
behaviour
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POSITIVIST
INTERPRETIVE
The world is external and objective
The world is socially constructed and subjective
The observer is independent
The observer is part of what is observed
Science is value free
Science is driven by humaninterests
The focus is on facts
The focus is on meanings
Search for causality
Try to understand what is happening
Reduce to simplest elements
Look at the totality of the situation
Formulating concepts for measurement
Using multiple methods to establish different
views of the phenomena
Large samples
Small samples looked at in depth or over time.
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(adapted from Easterby-Smith, 1994, p. 80):
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NORMATIVE (Positivist)
INTERPRETIVE
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Society and the social system
The individual
Medium/large scale research
Small scale research
Natural science model
Non-statistical
‘Objectivity'
‘Subjectivity'
Researcher is 'outside'
Researcher is personally involved
Generalizations from the specific
Interpretations of the specific
Explaining behaviour
Understanding actions
Seeking causes
Meanings rather than causes
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(after Cohen and Manion, 1994, p. 39)
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In practice, researchers often adopt a model that is a
combination of approaches, for example, both
quantitative &positivist and qualitative &
interpretive.
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"a growing body of social research takes a stand
somewhere between the two schools of thought. It is
recognised that no piece of social research can be entirely
objective, since no researcher is value free. Even in an
overtly rigorous quantitative, head-counting study, some
implicit decisions have already been made as to which
heads are worth counting." (Johnson, 1994, p. 7)
See the mixed methods research literature by Berman
(2008), Creswell (2008), Cresswell & Clark (2007), and
Tashakkori & Teddlie (1998, 2003).
The possibilities are practically endless, but mixed
methods studies in education might include, for
example:
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A questionnaire survey with a large sample, plus a
few individual interviews, plus a few classroom
observations
OR
Diaries, interviews and observations, all from/of the
same, small number of participants
OR
Some kind of text analysis (e.g. conversation
analysis, interaction analysis, critical discourse
analysis) with focus group discussion data and field
notes.
 Which
is the right paradigm and which
are the right methods for you depends
on
◦ Your personal stance
and
◦ Your research questions
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Do you spontaneously sympathize more with one
paradigm than the other? Are you more of an
interpretivist, or a positivist?
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How do you think you will best gain an
understanding of you research topic/ answers to
your research questions – by using mainly
qualitative or quantitative methods?
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The third type of research tradition, Critical Theory,
is ‘emancipatory’, a critique of ideology implying
the taking of action to change situations. In this
theory there can be no “objective” knowledge since
every view is influenced by a social interest.
Feminist research relates to critical theory since it
implies a commitment to change.
Includes: Critical Ethnography, Feminism, Critical
Pedagogy, Critical Discourse Analysis
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Critical approaches are distinguished from
interpretative approaches primarily by their
connection to theoretical perspectives which are
linked to a general theory of society and a concept
of social structure which exists beyond the actor’s
perception of it.
Masemann (1982), in Lather
(1991)
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Overcoming oppression
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Knowledge comes from self-reflection, and is concerned
with values and standards
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Emancipation through enlightenment, by enabling
members of oppressed groups to recognise their
interests, free themselves of ideology, and gain control
over their own lives.
Validity of a critical theory is measured by its ability to
enlighten and foster personal autonomy.
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Heigham, J. & Croker, R. A. (Eds.) (2009). Qualitative research in applied
linguistics. A practical introduction. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
(Available as e-book.)
Dörnyei, Z. (2007) Research methods in applied linguistics : quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford : Oxford University Press
(Multiple hard copies available.)
Kendall, A. King &Nancy H. Hornberger (Eds.) (2008). Encyclopedia of
language and education, Vol.10: Research methods in language and
education. New York, N.Y., Springer. (Available as e-book.)
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2002) Research Methods in Education
5th Edition. Routledge
Cresswell, J. W. and V. L. P. Clark (2007). Designing and conducting mixed
methods research. London, Sage