Research Paradigms
Critical Theory, dating back to the 1920's, was developed by German scholars at what was collectively called the Frankfurt School (Morrow and Brown, 1994 cited in Creswell, 1998). Feminist theory, having many similar characteristics to critical theory such as emancipatory; educative; transformative and participatory, is different in that its subject matter is "gender domination within a patriarchal society (Creswell,1998, p. 83).
As cited in Creswell (1998), the central themes that might be explored by a critical researcher would include "the scientific study of social institutions and their transformations through interpreting the meanings of social life; the historical problems of domination, alienation, and social struggles; and a critique of society and the envisioning of new possibilities" (Fay, 1987: Morrow & Brown, 1994). Critical theory is emancipatory with the goal being to end all forms of domination, and, in doing this, bringing about the transformation of society (Creswell, 1998; Denzin & Lincoln, 1994). This paradigm of research is different in the other forms explored further in this paper by it being a potential tool for social/political activism. There is the interplay of researcher and those being researched with possible goals, including action-oriented groups being formed, and encouragement of individuals self-examining the conditions of their existence (Thomas, 1993). The researcher, in using critical theory practices, can often become the catalyst for social change. Critical theory's orientation is towards action. Action research "challenges the claims of neutrality and objectivity of traditional social science and seeks full collaborative inquiry by all participants" (Marshall & Rossman, 1999, p.5) The critical theory researcher, in contrast to the feminist researcher, may be interested in bringing attention to the needs of people and social action instead of focusing on research for women and gender issues (Creswell, 1998). A more focused research is put into play with the feminist paradigm. Both the critical theorists and the feminist researcher could be included in the postmodern perspective that challenges meta-narratives and is considered by Boland (1995) as a post-theory perspective (Creswell, 1998).
Feminist theory, embracing many of the aspects of post-modern critiques, challenges the current society (Creswell, 1998). The focus of the feminist paradigm is the ending of women's unequal position in society (Lather, 1991, p. 71, cited in Creswell, 1998). Both feminist and critical theory often have emancipatory goals (Marshall, Rossman, 1999). Critical theory and feminist theory assumes the inquiry is done in a natural setting, not one artificially created yet they differ in their focus of interest (Marshall, Rossman, 1999)
The interpretive and constructivist paradigms involve the acceptance of the researcher having bias inherent in their work. Interpretivists work to understand and to capture a subject's point of view along with understanding the world of experience (Dezin & Lincoln, 1994). According to Friere, the researcher must first bracket his or her own experiences before attempting to understand the experiences of those being researched (Friere, 1993). By doing this, a more holistic approach to the study is accomplished that is both naturalistic and value bound with the ideal of provoking cultural criticism (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994). Constructivists believe that each word has an inherent history or bias within it and that everything needs to be questioned as to what that bias is and how it would affect what is being studied (Rogers, 1996). Constructivism is similar to both feminist and critical theory in that it is political in nature and could be action oriented although, in its differences, the action may be only inward, as in the individual's self-questioning. Constructivist theory is very concerned with how verbal and non-verbal symbols are used to create society's version of the world. The manipulation of these symbols is the cornerstone to the constructivist theorist's paradigm (Rogers, 1996). A constructivist may work through feminist theory by concerning itself with the realities of women's lives and how the symbols, inherent in the language of society, form that reality.
The goals and concepts of positivism treat reality as one truth, a single reality. Research is value free and the research subject is an "object". This paradigm is measurable, value free and objective (Lincoln, & Guba, 2000). The methods used are structured experiments; interviewing, indexes and is deductive. Positivism has its roots in a quantitative methodology rather than qualitative (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Constructivism, on the other hand treats reality as relativistic (Lincoln, Guba, 2000).
In learning about these various paradigms of research theory I found that the constructivist paradigm is where my research was headed. The premise that one needs to question the very basic symbolic roots of our language, of our forms of communication as it concerns both visual and auditory information, and never cease questioning it, is central to my research. My research concerns itself with what our society has taken for granted, television (Mander, 1978; Klass, 2000; Sutphen, 2000). How our lives are becoming molded into a lifestyle that is not of our individual making (Bushman, 1998; Buzzell, 1998; Iyenger, 1994, Mander & Goldsmith, 1996) and yet, because of the words and symbols surrounding us, many are unable to notice it occurring (Bauder, 1998; Peper & Mulholland, 1971). Critical theory and its action research methodology somewhat fits into my research but not fully. My research is grounded in the premise that we each have our own reality to live in and be aware of. Changing someone's reality is not a goal of my research. To understand and to question what is reality is the goal. A value judgment is not part of my research so the interpretive approach does not fit, although it is similar, in ways to constructivism. Feminist theory could become part of my research but would complicate the main theme so I will maintain a more constructivist/critical theory approach. The positivist controls the research while I will not. Control was shared between myself, the inquirer, and between the participants of my study.