Caught in the Paradigm Gap: Qualitative Researchers’ Lived Experience and the Politics of Epistemology

Abstract

For 8 years at national conferences and from academic listserves, we collected qualitative researchers’ narratives about problems encountered and solutions tried while researching. Using an emergent design and analytic induction, and triangulating across researcher perspectives, we produced three successive descriptive-interpretive frameworks for understanding researchers’ lived experience during the shift from single to multiple research paradigms. The data show misunderstanding and resistance affecting these researchers at all levels of practice, suggesting a cumulative effect on knowledge in our field. Despite some positive research contexts, most study participants perceived and internalized conflicted epistemologies. We conclude that our field needs to become more reflective about practice and to develop a more deeply democratic discourse for research, one grounded in principles of academic freedom and supported by the conviction that diversity engenders strength.