Paradigms and the Philosophy of Methods

Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are generally associated with two research paradigms: “positivism” and “phenomenology” respectively (Lalwani et al, 2004). According to Gummesson (2000, p. 18), the concept of “paradigms” was the creation of Kuhn in the 1960s. Kuhn’s paradigms denote “value judgements, norms, standards, frames of reference, perspectives, ideologies, myths, theories, and approved procedures that govern their thinking and action”. Burrell and Morgan (1979) transplanted paradigms into social science and identified categories of paradigm: radical humanism, interpretivism, radical structuralism, and functionalism – meta-theoretical assumptions defining each. In Wittgenstein’s terms (1961), a paradigm is a “world-view”. However defined, “paradigm” has methodological implications for research in business studies and, by extension, logistics/SCM: the researcher’s choice of methods and overall approach is anchored to philosophical allegiance on ontological issues.