RSE4801 Assignment 3 2025 Due 7 August 2025

RSE4801 Assignment 3 2025
Due 7 August 2025
Learning Unit 3: Research Paradigms

Assignment question:
In 3000 – 3500 words, compare and contrast the ontological and epistemological
assumptions that inform and shape the research paradigms listed below. Thereafter,
explain which, amongst them, makes the strongest contribution to education and why:
Positivism, Interpretivism, Critical theory, Postmodernism, Critical realism

A Comprehensive Analysis of Research Paradigms: Ontological and
Epistemological Foundations and Their Contributions to Educational Research

The Significance of Research Paradigms in Education

Research paradigms are the basic belief systems that guide how researchers in
education think about the world, plan their studies, and make sense of their findings
(Guba & Lincoln, 1994). These paradigms include ideas about what is real (ontology),
how we come to know things (epistemology), and how research should be done
(methodology). In educational research where topics range from testing student learnin