Paradigm Chameleon

The question is..."What's your paradigm?"

I would say that I am a bit of a chameleon when it comes to a research paradigm. I think more in terms of purpose, and so I operate in a paradigm based on the purpose of what I'm wanting to know or discover.

I think that I most align (right now anyway) with the post-positivist paradigm. I like the "Yes, but" definition I have given this paradigm in my mind. Meaning, I want to get as close to the "truth" as possible while realizing that my humanness makes my research somewhat fallible no matter how much I attempt to detach myself from it. Currently, my main research interests lie in reading interventions (particularly for secondary, grades 6-12 students). That being, it is important to me to find the methods that appear to give me the best results for the largest number of students. This points to the post-positivist paradigm.

On the other hand, I have a strong interest in the attitudes and preferences of reluctant readers, particularly African American reluctant readers at the secondary level. If I were to study this topic, I would likely lean more towards a feminist theory/interpretive paradigm. I would be less interested in numbers and figures, and more interested in the stories of my subjects. However, those stories might lead me to try some kind of intervention in order to motivate the students, so my paradigm would likely end up being mixed methods.

source