Three paradigms of research are: (a) the positivist and post-positivist paradigm, (b) the constructivist paradigm, and (c) the critical paradigm.
The distinction between the positivist and post-positivist paradigm (that emphasizes empirical-analytical knowledge) and the constructivist paradigm (that emphasizes meaning and experiential knowledge) has been made by several writers (e. g., Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The German critical theorist Jürgen Habermas (1971) took this debate one step further by introducing the critical paradigm (that emphasizes critical, emancipatory knowledge).
Over the past decade, several researchers, philosophers, and psychologists have elaborated on the distinctions between these three research paradigms (Bhaskar, 1975; Brydon-Miller, 2001; Lincoln & Guba, 2000; Richardson & Fowers, 1997; Smith, 1997; Teo, 1999).
http://education.miami.edu/isaac/public_web/chapeleven.htm
Social Constructivist Paradigm
http://education.miami.edu/isaac/public_web/chaptwelve.htm
GUIDELINES AND CHECKLIST FOR CONSTRUCTIVIST (a.k.a. FOURTH GENERATION) EVALUATION
Egon G. Guba & Yvonna S. Lincoln
November 2001
NOTE: The guidelines and checklists for constructivist evaluations and reports outlined herein are based upon Egon G. Guba and Yvonna S. Lincoln, Fourth Generation Evaluation, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1989. Useful background information may be found in Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1985.
http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/archive_checklists/constructivisteval.pdf
Lincoln & Guba, 1985, Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1985.
http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/archive_checklists/constructivisteval.pdf
