Paper Example: Transformative Research Paradigm

Transformative research involves tools, discoveries, or ideas that radically change people's understanding of significant existing engineering or scientific concepts or educational practices or lead to the establishment of a new science field or paradigm, education, or engineering (Mertens, 2008). The transformative research paradigm is aligned with the qualitative research method where ideas are generated and analyzed. Moreover, the transformative research paradigm combines several research perspectives such as participatory approaches to inquiry and critical theory (Qutoshi, 2015, 173). The primary overarching assumption in the depicted perspective is always the presumed human oppression existence and the resulting alleviation need to such oppression.

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Additionally, these views necessarily connect various scientific inquiries with their political and historical roots as well as serve as empowerment foundations for people through knowledge discovery (Taylor et al., 2012, 379). The perspective of the transformative research concentrated on determining the constraints placed on people by their socioeconomic statuses, gender, and race to increase inherent oppression awareness. Moreover, the paradigm's scientific inquiry seeks to involve people in the empowerment process by raising the constraints that limit the potential of humans (Mertens et al., 2009, 89). In the view, discovery is bracketed by the enfranchising necessity to people in the production and development of socially situated-meaning-making.

The depicted perspective views the collaboration and covenants of humans as a way of emancipating socially oppressed individuals (Egbo, 2005). For instance, there is action research is among the meaning-making procedures, where knowledge is generated in a real-life setting with the aim of improving practice. However, some researches might exceed their modest purposes, with impacts that are beyond them (Anderson and McLachlan, 2016, 310). Other types of researches create opportunities for other and further research, change the thinking way of researchers in a domain regarding the world or affect the knowledge acquisition process vastly. In such cases, research can transform a field making its concept to be self-referential (Mertens et al., 2008, 85).

References

Anderson, C.R. and McLachlan, S.M., 2016. Transformative research as knowledge mobilization: Transmedia, bridges, and layers. Action Research, 14(3), pp.295-317. DOI: 10.1177/1476750315616684

Egbo, B., 2005. Emergent paradigm: Critical realism and transformative research in educational administration. McGill Journal of Education/Revue des sciences de l'education de McGill, 40(2). Retrieved from mje.mcgill.ca/article/viewFile/568/457

Mertens, D., Fraser, J. and Heimlich, J., 2008. M or F?: Gender, identity, and the transformative research paradigm. Museums & Social Issues, 3(1), pp.81-92. DOI: 10.1179/msi.2008.3.1.81

Mertens, D.M., 2008. Transformative research and evaluation. Guilford Press. ISBN:978-1-59385-302-0

Mertens, D.M., Holmes, H.M. and Harris, R.L., 2009. Transformative research and ethics. The Handbook of social research ethics, pp.85-101. DOI: 10.4135/9781483348971.n6

Qutoshi, S.B., 2015. Auto/ethnography: A transformative research paradigm. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 9, pp.161-190. DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v9i0.14027

Taylor, P.C., Taylor, E.L. and Luitel, B.C., 2012. Multi-paradigmatic transformative research as/for teacher education: An integral perspective. In Second international handbook of science education (pp. 373-387).

Springer, Dordrecht. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_26