Having selected a potential research topic, now I must select a research paradigm, and that seems almost as difficult.  From the moment we started reading about research paradigms, I knew selecting one would be a problem for me for two main reasons: (1) I have limited knowledge of research paradigms and methods at this point in my doctoral career, and (2) I really do value both quantitative and qualitative research.  In truth, if I selected a paradigm that best reflected my personal values, it would be the pragmatic paradigm.  That said, given that we are not allowed to select mixed methods (and knowing that I would be unprepared to tackle mixed methods research at this time), I must select either a postpositivist or constructivist paradigm.

If I studied “bouncing back” from a postpositivist, quantitative approach, I would be able to evaluate a larger sample of students and utilize data from current survey methods that are already employed at the university to see how their responses differ to their peers who don’t bounce back in terms of academic achievement.  In some ways, this could provide some essential data on the factors that are contributing to their success.  Are students from certain groups, majors, gender, socioeconomic status, etc, more likely to bounce back than others?  How quickly do they need to turn their academic performance around, measured by gpas, to ensure later achievement? Also, I could develop or use other survey methods to create questions that target this specific phenomenon.  I like the scope of this approach.

On the other hand, some of the richness of the experience would be lost if I focused solely on survey data.  If I employed a constructivist, qualitative approach, perhaps through a case study or narrative research, I could get a better understanding of the complexity, and timing, of the factors that influenced a student to make a turnaround.  My assumption at this point is that it is not one factor, but many, that cause students to bounce back.  Understanding how and when these factors interact seems a topic better suited to qualitative research designs.