Business research paradigms are meant to recognise the themes that connect

quantitative and qualitative research, allowing the blend of quantitative and qualitative
methods. The most common paradigm are the following:

1. Interpretivist: the origin the interpretivist paradigm is often connected with Schultz,
Cicourel and Garfinkel, the "Chicago School of Sociology", and Boas and Malinowski.
This relate to individual perspective of the society. Interpretivist paradigm argues that
there is no separation of subject and object of investigation such that who we are and
how we understand the world is a central part of how we understand ourselves, others
and the world.Thus, a reality that cannot be separate from individual’s knowledge of it,
the interpretivist paradigm posits that researchers' values are inherent in all phases of the
research process findings emerge through dialogue in which conflicting interpretations
are negotiated among members of a community. All interpretations are based in a
momento.

2. Realist Critical or Subtle Realist Paradigm: Realist perspectives are based on a

theoretical belief that knowledge of reality is imperfect and that reality can be known
from individual perspective of it. Realists have developed avariety of alternatives to the
concept of validity that are appropriate for qualitative research.These include:
confidence, credibility, plausibility and relevance. These Paradigms have emerged
recently and in the context of need for appropriate criteria for evaluating qualitative
research. 

3. Rationalism: This is a doctrine of the reason, instead of sensation, is the foundation

of knowledge.

4. Rationalist: Rationalists claim that there are significant ways in which concepts and
knowledge aregained independent of sense experience. They develop their views in two
ways. Firstly,they argue that there are cases where the content of our concepts or
knowledge outstripthe information that sense experience can provide. Secondly, they
construct account ofhow reason provides additional information about the world.

5. Pragmatist: Pragmatic and moral concerns are important considerations when

evaluating interpretive science. Fostering a dialogue between researchers and
respondents is critical. It is throughthis dialectical process that a more informed and
sophisticated understanding of the socialworld can be created.
6. Critical theorist: Critical Theory Paradigms attempt to reveal the tacit values that
underlie the enterprise orhidden agenda. Our conceptual system and how things are
defined in society are created through language. Language guides and limits the
observational process.

7. Positivist: The origin of positivist Paradigm is usually credited to Descartes. Others

have traced these beliefs back to Galileo. Both share the following beliefs about the
nature of knowing and reality that there is an objective reality that can be known to the
researcher. Positivist approaches rely heavily on experimental and manipulative
methods to ensure that there is a distance between the subjective biases of the researcher
and the objective reality he or she studies. This generally involves hypothesis generation
and testing and used quantitative methods.

8. Constructivism: This is a philosophical paradigm about the nature of knowledge. It

looks at how and why the current state of affairs was reached. The paradigm posits that
learning is active,constructive process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring
it. The learner is an information constructor. People tend to create their own subjective
representation of objective reality thus constructivists believe that we each construct our
view of the world based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment.