Q: How do you distinguish a positivist paradigm from a social constructivist paradigm?

Answer:

Hello and welcome to the forum.

According to the positivist school of thought, it is possible to generalize the findings of one study to another study of a similar nature irrespective of the conditions or environment. This emphasizes that reality is objective and unvarying. In contrast, the social constructivist paradigm maintains that reality is constructed through interactions that influence it, and these depend on surroundings. Therefore, the observations in one scenario, and the interpretation of those observations, may vary from those in another scenario.

For more insights into research paradigms, you may refer to these previous queries on the forum:

• How do I make a research paradigm?
• How can I create research paradigm for quantitative research?
• When to use a qualitative research paradigm?

Hope that helps. All the best for your study/paper!