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Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych (Educational Studies Review)

There Is No End of Paradigms War in Social Sciences: A Meta-Analytical Approach
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  4. Meta-analyses of research on education

There Is No End of Paradigms War in Social Sciences: A Meta-Analytical Approach

Authors

  • Zbyszko Melosik Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7802-3152

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/PBE.2021.011

Keywords

paradigms, positivism, constructivism, pragmatism, power, epistemic communities, academic freedom

Abstract

The article is devoted to analyzing the present relevance of paradigms war concept, the most abstract meta-problem in social science. The main problem can be expressed in the following way: is it possible that there is the end of phenomenon called a paradigms war in the situation of common acceptance of pluralist approach to making science and growing importance of “mixed methods research”? To answer this question, the Author confronts the positivist and constructivist paradigms. These are compared with the special emphasis put on the epistemological differences between them and also differences between the nature of their research, quantitative or qualitative. The next analysed context is related to an alternative approach, pragmatism which rejects “the either-or position” and stresses the importance of mixed methods research is examined. To answer the main question, the Author further moves on to study these paradigms as an instrument of power in academia, especially when relating to promoting the younger generation of scholars. Against this background, the concept of epistemic communities, which is based on the idea of intersubjectivity and reciprocity of perspectives, is taken into account. Finally, the author concludes that the idea of academic freedom as a base of paradigmatic pluralism needs to be stressed. The meta-analytical approach to the main problem has been used by the author.

References

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Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych (Educational Studies Review)

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Published

2021-06-25

How to Cite

1.
MELOSIK, Zbyszko. There Is No End of Paradigms War in Social Sciences: A Meta-Analytical Approach. Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych (Educational Studies Review). Online. 25 June 2021. Vol. 1, no. 32, p. 193–203. [Accessed 14 June 2025]. DOI 10.12775/PBE.2021.011.
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Vol. 1 No. 32 (2021)

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Meta-analyses of research on education

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