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Problems posing as solutions: Criticising pragmatism as a paradigm for mixed research

Hampson, T; McKinley, J; (2023) Problems posing as solutions: Criticising pragmatism as a paradigm for mixed research. Research in Education 10.1177/00345237231160085. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Mixed research is a methodology of growing importance both within and without education. This type of research forces researchers to reconcile conflicting ways of justifying and understanding research with results that have the potential to be forward pointing for all researchers. As mixed research has grown, mixed research has gained an increasingly solidified identity which is increasingly associated with the pragmatic paradigm. This paper seeks to describe and criticise pragmatism as a paradigm for mixed research. We identify six features of pragmatism which we argue render it unfit for purpose. 1. That it is a “paradigm of convenience” 2. That it takes a consequentialist view of good research. 3. That it takes a consequentialist view of truth. 4. That it assumes the answers to epistemic questions is “somewhere in the middle” 5. That it priorities the research question, rather than ontology or epistemology 6. That it treats itself as a prerequisite for mixed research. We argue that in prioritising flexibility and practicality over principles, pragmatism loses the ability to offer guidance to researchers. Furthermore, many of the issues with pragmatism arise from a conflation of paradigm and method. I.e., by thinking that there are quantitative and qualitative paradigms. We conclude that traditional paradigms are better served to act as a paradigm for mixed research.

Type: Article
Title: Problems posing as solutions: Criticising pragmatism as a paradigm for mixed research
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/00345237231160085
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1177/00345237231160085
Language: English
Additional information: © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166168
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