Describe both positions in the “paradigm wars” and present an argument for one.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Recall our discussion from Chapter 1 of the different philosophies of science. These philosophies, sometimes called paradigms, are sets of beliefs that guide scientific work in an area, including unquestioned presuppositions, accepted theories, and exemplary research findings (Kuhn, 1970). The paradigm wars emerged from inflexibly linking quantitative methods to a positivist philosophy and qualitative methods to a constructivist philosophy (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
The argument goes like this: A researcher who accepts a positivist philosophy believes that there is a reality that exists apart from our perceptions or interpretations of it. As researchers, we test ideas that we have about the real world to see if the evidence we obtain with our research methods indicates that the real world is consistent with our ideas about it. We need to be objective so that our view of the real world is not distorted by what we want to see. If the evidence we obtain with our research methods indicates that our ideas were wrong, we have to revise our ideas accordingly (Morgan, 2014).
By contrast, a researcher who accepts a constructivist philosophy believes that the reality experienced by different people differs because reality only exists in relation to each individual’s unique perspective. As researchers, we can learn about others’ experiences and beliefs and interpret what we learn with our theories, but there is no single reality that we can test our ideas against. The evidence we obtain with our research methods enables us to understand others’ perspectives and to develop an understanding of larger social contexts, but it does not allow us to conclude one perspective is correct (Morgan, 2014).
As you can see, these different research philosophies can lay the groundwork for a paradigm war to emerge. Those who insist that there is an objective reality can find little basis for collaborating with those who believe that reality only exists in the eyes of the beholder. Therefore, if the logic of quantitative methods necessarily reflects a positivist philosophy and the logic of qualitative methods necessarily reflects a constructivist philosophy, there is little basis for combining these methods in one project.