RSE4801 Assignment 3 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) 2025 - DUE 7 August 2025

,RSE4801 Assignment 3 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) 2025 - DUE 7
August 2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. POSITIVISM
2.1 Ontological Assumptions
2.2 Epistemological Assumptions
2.3 Methodological Implications
2.4 Relevance to Education
3. INTERPRETIVISM
3.1 Ontological Assumptions
3.2 Epistemological Assumptions
3.3 Methodological Implications
3.4 Relevance to Education
4. CRITICAL THEORY
4.1 Ontological Assumptions
4.2 Epistemological Assumptions
4.3 Methodological Implications
4.4 Relevance to Education
5. POSTMODERNISM
5.1 Ontological Assumptions
5.2 Epistemological Assumptions
5.3 Methodological Implications

, 5.4 Relevance to Education
6: CRITICAL REALISM
6.1 Ontological Assumptions
6.2 Epistemological Assumptions
6.3 Methodological Implications
6.4 Relevance to Education
7. DECOLONIALITY
7.1 Ontological Assumptions
7.2 Epistemological Assumptions
7.3 Methodological Implications
7.4 Relevance to education
8 conclusion and paradigm evaluation
REFERENCES



1. INTRODUCTION
Educational research is underpinned by paradigms, which are
overarching belief systems that guide how researchers
understand the nature of reality, knowledge, and how we come
to know it. These paradigms influence every step of the
research process, from the formulation of questions to data
collection and interpretation. In this document, we explore six
major paradigms that influence educational research:
Positivism, Interpretivism, Critical Theory, Postmodernism,
Critical Realism, and Decoloniality. Each is discussed in terms of