Paradigma Positivisme dan Alamiah

Lincoln dan Guba (1985) membedakan paradigma dalam ilmu pengetahuan secara umum dalam dua kelompok, yaitu paradigma positivisme(positivist) dan alamiah (naturalist). Pengertian paradigma menurut Patton, 1978 (dalam Lincoln dan Guba ,1985) ini adalah :

            A paradigm is a world view, a general perspective , a way of breaking down the  complexity of the real world. As such, paradigms are deeply embedded in the socialization of adherents and practitioners: paradigms tell them what is important, legitimate, and reasonable. Paradigms are also normative, telling the practitioner what to do without the necessity of long existential or epistemological consideration. But it is this aspect of paradigms that constitutes both their strength and their weakness-their strength in that it makes action possible, their weakness in that the very reason for action is hidden in the unquestioned assumptions of the paradigm. 

Bogdan dan Biklen (1982 dalam Lexy J. Moleong, 1989) menyebut paradigma sebagai kumpulan longgar dari sejumlah asumsi yang dipegang bersama, konsep atau proposisi yang mengarahkan cara berpikir dan penelitian. Deddy Mulyana  (2003) menyebut paradigma sebagai suatu ideologi dan praktik suatu komunitas ilmuwan yang menganut suatu pandangan yang sama atas realitas, memiliki seperangkat kriteria yang sama untuk menilai aktivitas penelitian, dan menggunakan metode serupa.

            Tabel 1. Contrasting Positivism and Naturalist Axioms

Axioms About	Positivism Paradigm	Naturalist Paradigm
The nature of reality	Reality is single, tangible, and fragmentable	Realities are multiple, constructed, and holistic
The relationship of knower to the known	Knower and known are independent, a dualism	Knower and known are interactive, inseparable
The possibility of generalization	Time-and context-free generalizations (nomothetic statements) are possible	Only time-and context bound working hypotheses (ideo-raphic statements) are possible
The possibility of casual linkages	There are real causes, temporally precedent to or simultaneous with their effect	All entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects
The role of values	Inquiry is value-free	Inquiry is value-bound

    Sumber : Lincoln dan Guba, 1985

Dari Tabel 1 di atas dapat dilihat perbedaan aksioma paradigma positivisme dan alamiah. Paradigma positivisme pada umumnya melahirkan metode penelitian kuantitatif, sedangkan paradigma alamiah melahirkan metode kualitatif.  Lincoln dan Guba (1985) selanjutnya mengemukakan asumsi-asumsi dasar dalam paradigma alamiah, diantaranya :