Show how the four paradigms discussed in this chapter might structure your inquiry into the topic of gender/sex and communication. What aspects of the subject would the paradigm lead you to focus on? How might you interpret observations within each paradigm?
Positivist Paradigm
According to the positivists’ paradigm, the objective reality is based on the empirical observations in order to minimize subjectivity. The observations are based on variables that represent the characteristics of the individuals or the phenomena. Therefore, gender/sex communication questions will be formed such as “How does the gender influence the time spent using mobile phones?” The question will focus on the relation between the gender as an independent variable and the time spent talking on the phone, which is the dependent variable. The cause and effect relationship seen through the question is focused on an attribute of the one variable, i.e. being a female, which is believed to cause a particular attribute in the dependent variable, i.e. talkativeness. The observations can be measured through quantitative data, which will represent the gender and the average time spent speaking on the phone. The cause of the effect relationship can be described by making nomothetic generalizations about how the gender of the speaker affects the time he/she spends talking on the phone.
System Paradigm
Considering the communication as a system, according to the system paradigm, the parts of the system are characterized by interdependence. Thus, the question will be formed such as “How does the productivity of an all-female team will be affected if one of its members is replaced by a male.” The system paradigm takes the perspective that the team forms an equilibrium, which will be affected by changing one of its parts. In that regard, the studied relation will focus on the way the equilibrium functions, i.e. the changes that were made after the male arrived to explain how the team worked prior to the insertion. The data can be gathered quantitatively with measuring the changes made through the such patterns as the number of conflicts, the time spend working, the time spent talking, then the observations can be described through qualitative summary which will focus on the phenomena of working in all-female team.
Interpretive Paradigm
As the primary goal of the interpretive researcher is to understand the web of meanings in which humans act, gender/sex communication questions will be formed such as “How does the perception of the different genders about each other influence change before and after a conflict” The interpretive paradigm will focus on the meaning that each individual will assign to the communication rules and how these rules the changes in these rules will change the perception of the other person in the conflict. The observation will be measured through qualitative data from interviews to each participant, where the interviewee will describe a conflict and the perception of the person from opposite gender before and after the conflict. The observations will take the form of a heuristic framework, which will guide the researcher to understanding the specific setting of the situation described. The results of the observations will be summarized as qualitative descriptions.
Critical Paradigm
According to the critical paradigm, the critical reflection of the data enables knowledge. Thus, each set of data resulting from an observation has an ideological bias. In that regard, gender/sex communication questions will be formed such as “How does media that contains images of beautiful young women and rich men strengthen the bias against women in terms of financial dependence” The observation will make a critical reflection on the way that picturing the dependence of women on older men will enforce the ideas of men superiority in financial terms. The critical paradigm will be focused on critiquing the way the relationship between women and men is portrayed in modern media, outlining the bias it contains. The observation is collected qualitatively, and the results and the summary will be described through qualitative summary.
References
Baxter, L. A., & Babbie, E. R. (2004). The basics of communication research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.