Paradigms in social science, a beginner’s guide to positivism, interpretivism and critical realism
If you are trying to understand paradigms in social science research, there is a good chance you have already disappeared down an internet rabbit hole involving words like ontology, epistemology, positivism, interpretivism, and critical realism… and emerged slightly dazed wondering whether everyone else somehow already understands this.
Over the last twenty years supporting PhD researchers, I have noticed something interesting about paradigms.
Most people are already thinking in ways that lean towards a particular paradigm long before they know the terminology for it.
The problem is that research philosophy is often taught backwards. Students are frequently introduced to abstract language first and only later shown how those ideas connect to actual research decisions. That is why paradigms can end up feeling much more intimidating than they really are.
What is a paradigm in social science research?
A paradigm is essentially a way of understanding the social world and thinking about how research should be conducted within it.
Paradigms shape what we believe counts as knowledge, how we think knowledge can be generated, what kinds of questions we ask, which methods feel appropriate, and how we interpret findings.
They are not simply methodological preferences - they reflect deeper assumptions about reality, knowledge, and human experience.
One of the easiest ways to understand paradigms is to think about them as different ways of looking at the same situation.
Imagine three researchers studying students’ use of artificial intelligence tools in education. All three are interested in the same broad topic but they are asking very different kinds of questions. Because the questions differ, the research design differs too.
Positivism: identifying patterns and measurable relationships
A positivist researcher is usually interested in observable patterns, measurement, and explanation.
They may ask questions such as:
Does AI use improve academic performance?
How often are students using AI tools?
Is there a relationship between AI use and grades?
The goal is often to identify measurable relationships that can be tested systematically. This kind of research frequently involves surveys, experiments, statistical analysis, larger datasets.
Positivism assumes that aspects of the social world can be observed and studied in relatively objective ways. Researchers working within positivist approaches are often aiming for consistency, prediction, and generalisable findings.
Interpretivism: understanding meaning and lived experience
Interpretivism takes a different starting point.
Rather than focusing primarily on measurement and prediction, interpretivist research is usually concerned with meaning, experience, and interpretation.
An interpretivist researcher studying AI in education might ask:
How do students feel about using AI tools?
What meanings do they attach to AI use?
How does AI shape their understanding of learning, authorship, or academic identity?
Here, the goal is not simply to measure behaviour. It is to understand how people experience and make sense of the world around them.
This is where qualitative methods often become central - interviews, focus groups, ethnography, observation.
Interpretivism recognises that human experience is shaped by context, relationships, language, and perspective. Two people may experience the same situation very differently, and that difference matters analytically.
Critical realism: looking beneath the surface
Critical realism often feels slightly more difficult to grasp at first because it sits somewhere between observable reality and deeper underlying structures.
Critical realists usually accept that there is a real world that exists independently of us.
At the same time, they recognise that our understanding of that world is always partial and shaped by social context.
A critical realist researcher studying AI use in schools may ask:
What structures are shaping students’ use of AI?
How do school systems, inequality, access to technology, or educational policy influence behaviour?
What mechanisms help explain why certain patterns emerge?
Critical realism is often interested in moving beyond surface observations to explore the underlying conditions and structures shaping what we see happening.
This is why critical realist research sometimes combines qualitative and quantitative approaches. The goal is not simply to describe experiences or identify patterns, but to explain what may be generating those patterns beneath the surface.
Why paradigms matter for your PhD
At doctoral level, paradigms matter because they shape the coherence of your research design.
Your paradigm influences the questions you ask, the methods you choose, the kinds of claims you can reasonably make, and how you interpret your findings.
This is why methodology chapters can start feeling shaky when students choose methods that do not align with the kind of understanding they are actually trying to develop.
For example, if your research is deeply focused on lived experience, identity, or meaning-making, interpretivist approaches often feel more coherent.
If your study is focused on measurement, prediction, or identifying broader patterns across large populations, positivist approaches may align more naturally.
If your interest lies in understanding deeper mechanisms, systems, or structures shaping social outcomes, critical realism may provide a stronger fit.
A useful question to ask yourself is: “What kind of understanding am I trying to develop through this research?”.
Still feels confusing?
Many PhD researchers assume everyone else understands paradigms more confidently than they do.
In truth though, most people are still figuring this out. Paradigms often become clearer once you stop treating them as abstract philosophical labels and start seeing how they influence actual research decisions.
Over time, you begin recognising that you already have certain assumptions about what counts as evidence, how knowledge is generated, what kind of research feels meaningful to you.
It’s kind of like exercise preferences. Most people know long before they have the language for it whether they enjoy team sports or whether they would honestly rather crawl into a hedge than join a local team of anything. Some people thrive on shared energy and collective momentum. Others prefer putting headphones on and disappearing off for a solitary run where nobody speaks to them. The preference usually exists before the explanation does. Paradigms can feel a bit like that too. Often, you are already leaning towards a particular way of understanding research before you know the terminology for it.
The terminology simply helps you articulate those assumptions more clearly.
If you want more structured support
If you are currently trying to make sense of ontology, epistemology, paradigms, conceptual frameworks, or theoretical positioning and finding yourself lost in overly abstract methodology textbooks, my Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations PhD Survival Guide was designed for exactly this stage of the doctorate.
It helps qualitative PhD researchers develop a clearer understanding of paradigms and research philosophy, ontology and epistemology, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, methodological coherence, and how to go about positioning your research confidently.
I developed it because doctoral researchers do not actually need more jargon - they need clearer explanations that connect theory to real research decisions.
You can explore the guide here.
“I don’t know whether my framework genuinely fits my project”
If your research is moving, but something underneath it doesn’t fully make sense yet, this guide will help you get it back on solid ground. If you’ve started to freeze when someone asks what your PhD is about, this guide will help you get clear on it.
This is not about starting from scratch, it’s about making sense of the conceptual and theoretical foundations that are already shaping your work - so you can explain, defend, and build on them with confidence.
Designed for qualitative doctoral researchers working with interviews, fieldnotes, documents, thematic analysis, grounded theory, ethnography, and related approaches.
Inside, you’ll work through seven carefully sequenced sections with practical worksheets to help you:
Understand paradigms and epistemology, without getting lost in the jargon
Clarify how your concepts connect to your research questions
Articulate your theoretical position with more confidence
Ensure your title reflects what your research is actually doing
If you’ve ever thought:
“I understand this… but not enough to defend it.”
“I’ve done the work, but I’m not sure how it all fits together.”
This guide helps you make your research foundations visible. When the foundations are clear, everything else becomes easier: your literature review, your methodology, and your writing.
This is a digital download. You’ll get immediate access to the full guide and worksheets as soon as you purchase, so you can start making progress straight away.
Swipe through the images to see exactly what’s inside.
For a more streamlined and coherent approach, you can access all four PhD Survival Guides in the full series here.
Got questions? Contact me using this form, I’ll be happy to help.
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