Sociological Reflection

A paradigm is a way of looking at the world. It is composed of certain philosophical assumptions that guide and direct thinking and action. Likewise, a paradigm can be defined as the “basic belief system or worldview that guides the investigation” (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p. 105).
Before joining this M.Phil programme, my understanding of research methodology was limited to only qualitative, quantitative and mix method and two approaches case study and ethnography. Now, after going through the qualitative research methods course, discussion in the classroom, going through different literature and based on the new learning, I realized that the theoretical framework for any research is beliefs of the researchers. It could be about the about the nature of reality, the sources of knowledge and how is that knowledge gained. I also learned that these beliefs are interlinked with the research paradigm, methodology, methods and tools for data collection. The different research paradigms / framework are interpretivist/ constructivist, post-positivism, pragmatism and critical inquiry. The approaches include; case study, ethnography, life history, case history, phenomenology, grounded theory etc.
The way I collected data for my research studies, interacted with my research participants, the nature of my research questions, data analysis and dissemination of the findings, I explored that I am qualitative-minded. I believe that knowledge is socially constructed and both are interlinked.