Guba lincoln 1994 handbook qualitative research

Journals by Subject. Publish with us. Contact us. Related Articles: Open Access. International Journal of Clinical Medicine Vol. DOI: Guba, E. Competing paradigms in qualitative research. Lincoln Eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. IN this chapter we analyze four paradigms that currently are competing, or have until recently competed, for acceptance as the paradigm of choice in informing and guiding inquiry, especially qualitative inquiry: positivism, postpositivism, critical theory and related ideological positions, and constructivism.

Although the title of this volume, Handbook of Qualitative Research, implies that the term qualitative is an umbrella term superior to the term paradigm and, indeed, that usage is not uncommon , it is our position that it is a term that ought to be reserved for a description of types of methods. From our perspective, both qualitative and quantitative methods may be used appropriately with any research paradigm.

Questions of method are secondary to questions of paradigm, which we define as the basic belief system or worldview that guides the investigator, not only in choices of method but in ontologicallyand epistemologicallyfundamentalways. It is certainly the case that interest in alternative paradigms has been stimulated by a growing dissatisfaction with the patent overemphasis on quantitative methods. Thus the emphasis of this chapter is on paradigms, their assumptions, and the implications of those assumptions for a variety of research issues, not on the relative utility of qualitative versus quantitative methods.

Mathematics is often termed the "queen of sciences," and those sciences, such as physics. Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research External Extraparadigm Critiques The intraparadigm problems noted above offer a weighty challenge to conventional methodology, but could be eliminated, or at least ameliorated, by greater use of qualitative data.

Many critics of the received view are content to stop at that point; hence many of the calls for more qualitative inputs have been limited to this methodslevel accommodation. But an even weightier challenge has been mounted by critics who have proposed alternative paradigms that involve not only qualification of approaches but fundamental adjustments in the basic assumptions that guide inquiry altogether.

The theory-ladenness of facts. Conventional approaches to research involving the verification or falsification of hypotheses assume the independence of theoretical and observational languages. If an inquiry is to be objective, hypotheses must be stated in ways that are independent of the way in which the facts needed to test them are collected.

But it now seems established beyond objection that theories and facts are quite interdependent-that is, that facts are facts only within some theoretical framework. Thus a fundamental assumption of the received view is exposed as dubious. If hypotheses and observations are not independent, "facts" can be viewed only through a theoretical "window" and objectivity is undermined. The underdetermination of theory.

This problem is also known as the problem of induction. Not only are facts determined by the theory window through which one looks for them, but different theory windows might be equally well supported by the same set of "facts. Indeed, it is this difficulty that led philosophers such as Popper to reject the notion of theory verification in favor of the notion of theory falsification.

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Please verify that you are not a robot. Would you also like to submit a review for this item? You already recently rated this item. Your rating has been recorded. Write a review Rate this item: 1 2 3 4 5. Preview this item Preview this item. Series: Qualitative research. The Handbook of Qualitative Research is the first attempt to synthesize this vast world of activity. The handbook moves from the theoretical to the specific, examining the various paradigms for doing qualitative work, the strategies developed for studying people in their natural setting, and a variety of techniques for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting findings.

Read more Find a copy online Links to this item Table of contents Table of contents. Allow this favorite library to be seen by others Keep this favorite library private. Save Cancel. Find a copy in the library Finding libraries that hold this item The Handbook is the first attempt to synthesize the huge amount of activity and change there has been in recent years in qualitative research. Contributors to this authoritative volume come from a diverse range of disciplines and countries, making it an essential resource and benchmark for anyone doing work in this international, interdisciplinary tradition.

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