Memo on the Paradigmatic Perspective and the Methodology for the Research

       

            Now I came to the point when I have to make a decision as to what paradigm to use in designing the inquiry. It might not be my final decision because the flexible nature of the qualitative approach allows the researcher to combine paradigmatic perspectives or decide to use a different paradigm in the research process if the situation will require it. However, I believe it is important to decide on a paradigm at the beginning of the design phase as it will guide and inform the study. I acknowledge that I should choose the paradigmatic perspective which does not contradict with my beliefs and values and is close to my worldview. Otherwise, I might end up confusing myself and muddling the study.

            After reviewing the paradigms, I feel that the interpretivist paradigm fits both my worldview and the goals of the study. Below I am going to discuss the reasons why I believe so.

         To begin with, I feel that the interpretivist paradigm goes along with my ontological and epistemological beliefs. To illustrate, in my view reality is socially constructed, complex, constantly changing and difficult to measure. I believe that it is impossible for a researcher to be completely objective and that human interpretation of the world is important and therefore should be regarded as valid knowledge. Furthermore, in my opinion, there is no absolute truth; truth can be understood in different ways depending on who is interpreting it. Thus, from this it can be concluded that I see the world from the interpretivist perspective.

            I also believe that interpretivist paradigm fits the goals of the research, which are to understand what role classroom practices play in the occurrence of stress in the first-year female students and to illuminate how this academic stress affects their life-style choices and participation in community life. These goals clearly show that the study is aimed at understanding the female students' perception and interpretation of the phenomenon of academic stress. As understanding and interpretation are the purposes of interpretivism, it is clear why this paradigm fits the study best.

            My next step in designing the research would be to choose a suitable methodology for the study. This choice is influenced mainly by the goals of the study and the selected paradigm. I feel that for this inquiry the most suitable methodology would be collective case study. I have several reasons to believe so. Firstly, using this methodology I will be able to get an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of academic stress by looking at multiple cases. Each "case" will be comprised of a female first-year undergraduate student suffering from academic pressure. Secondly, case study will allow me to set boundaries and decide what will and will not be included within the boundaries. Thus, I will be able to narrow down or broaden the focus of the research when/if necessary. Finally, this methodology can be used with the interpretivist theoretical perspective. From this it is easy to see why I chose the case study.