What is the constructivist paradigm? What does it emphasize?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Guba and Lincoln (1989) have carried the notion of involving research subjects and others in the design and reporting of research one step further. What they call the constructivist paradigm is a methodology that emphasizes the importance of exploring how different stakeholders in a social setting construct their beliefs. As we noted in Chapter 1, this approach rejects the assumption that there is a reality around us to be studied and reported on. Instead, social scientists operating in the constructivist paradigm try to develop a consensus among participants in some social process about how to understand the focus of inquiry, a program that is often evaluated. A research report will then highlight different views of the social program and explain how a consensus can be reached.
Constructivist paradigm -- Methodology based on rejection of belief in an external reality; it emphasizes the importance of exploring the way in which different stakeholders in a social setting construct their beliefs.
The constructivist approach provides a useful way of thinking about how to best make sense of the complexity and subjectivity of the social world. Other researchers write reports intended to influence public policy, and often, their findings are ignored. Such neglect would be less common if social researchers gave more attention to the different meanings attached by participants to the same events, in the spirit of constructivist case reports. The philosophy of this approach is also similar to the utilization-based evaluation research approach advanced by Patton (1997)