Understanding Research Philosophy and Paradigms
Research philosophy can feel abstract, and many students are unsure why a thesis on, say, marketing or nursing needs a section on it. Yet examiners often ask about it, because your philosophical position shapes what counts as valid knowledge in your study. In this blog, we'll explain the key terms, the main paradigms and how to write about them.
What Research Philosophy Means:
- Research philosophy is the set of beliefs and assumptions about how knowledge is developed.
- A paradigm is a shared set of these assumptions that guides how researchers in a tradition approach their work.
- Your paradigm influences your research questions, methods and how you interpret findings.
The Key Terms:
- Ontology concerns the nature of reality. Is there one objective reality, or are there multiple realities shaped by people's experiences?
- Epistemology concerns what counts as valid knowledge and how we can know it.
- Axiology concerns the role of values, including the researcher's own, in the research process.
The Main Paradigms:
- Positivism assumes an objective reality that can be measured. It is commonly linked with quantitative methods and hypothesis testing.
- Interpretivism assumes that reality is shaped by people's meanings and experiences. It is commonly linked with qualitative methods such as interviews.
- Pragmatism focuses on what works best to answer the research question. It is often used to justify mixed methods.
- Critical realism accepts that a reality exists but holds that our understanding of it is always partial and shaped by context.
Why Your Thesis Needs One:
- It shows examiners that your choice of methods is reasoned, not accidental.
- It helps you stay consistent. A positivist study that makes broad claims from a few interviews, for example, will look contradictory.
- It gives you a clear basis for defending your approach in your viva.
How to Write About It:
- State your paradigm clearly and explain its main assumptions in a few sentences.
- Link it directly to your research questions and methods.
- Briefly explain why other paradigms were less suitable.
- Cite key methodological texts, and check which frameworks your department prefers. Many students use the "research onion" developed by Saunders and colleagues to structure this section.
Research philosophy is not a formality. It explains the assumptions behind your study and connects them to the choices you make. A short, clear and well-linked discussion of your paradigm will strengthen your methodology chapter and prepare you for questions in your viva.