What even is a research paradigm? 

This video introduces the idea of research paradigms, giving an overview of five major paradigms: positivism, postpositivism, constructivism, critical theory and postructuralism. We talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars and Star Trek. We don't dig into the history of each, or the tensions between them (what you might call the theory or paradigm 'wars'), that's for another video (otherwise this would be WAY too long and it's already 35 minutes).
If there's a topic you'd like to see covered in a future video, get in touch in the comments or on Twitter: / pat_norman
I'll be producing a few more of these focused around practical research issues for professionals, which will take a deeper dive into different paradigms and research issues.
A conversation like this doesn't happen without a bit of research, and I've necessarily left out a whole lot of background sources and history. If you'd like to read more, the following papers are classics in the field (and were instrumental in informing this conversation):
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2008). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions and emerging confluences. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Landscape of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 191-215). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105-117). London: Sage.
Hatch, J. A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in education settings. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Lather, P. (2006). Paradigm proliferation as a good thing to think with: teaching research in education as a wild profusion. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(1), 35-57. doi:10.1080/09518390500450144
You can check out more learning resources like this at the following:
What even is a research paradigm?: • What even is a researc...
Research as a Right and a Battle: • Research as a Right an...
The Paradigm Wars: • The Paradigm Wars: Res...
Positivism: • Positivism - Research ...
Postpositivism: • Postpositivism - Resea...
Constructivism: • Constructivism - Resea...
Critical Theory: • Critical Theory - Rese...
Poststructuralism: • Poststructuralism - Re...
Thumbnail Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
Icons from the Noun Project by: Gan Khoon Lay, Yu Luck, Joel McKinney, Laymilk, Rusty Copperpot, Muhammad Samudra, Daeveid Seanz, Jacopo Bonacci, Supalerk laipawat, Brian Ejar,