Dominant Paradigms in Educational Research with a Review of Two Studies

教育研究主要典範與研究評論

Educational research is usually undertaken within a research paradigm-an approach to a research, with certain assumptions regarding the nature of reality, i.e. ontology, and nature of knowledge, i.e. epistemology, which in turn informs the choice of methodology and methods to use in terms of data generation and analysis. This article expounds on the two dominant paradigms, namely, Positivism and Interpretivism, with a view to ontology, epistemology, methodology, and methods; followed by a critical analysis of two research studies using various paradigms, i.e. a positivist study and an interpretivist study, in relation to the paradigmatic nature informing the studies.

教育研究通常遵循研究典範，亦即研究取向來進行。對於真實的本質，又稱為本體論，以及知識的本質，又稱為知識論，有諸多特定的假設，進而左右了研究策略的運用，以及資料蒐集與分析方法的選擇。本文先闡述兩大研究典範，即實證論典範與詮釋論典範，並且對於本體論、知識論、研究策略及資料蒐集和分析之方法所持有的觀點，加以說明;再則選取兩篇不同典範的研究報告，亦即實證研究與詮釋研究，評述不同研究取向如何影響其研究。