Week 2. Naturalistic, Interpretive and Critical Paradigms / Publishing in Journals

This week we studied some of the paradigms that I consider are fundamental for educational settings. I particularly feel more inclined to use them in research, mostly due to their fit for our evolving and always changing environment.

Naturalist, interpretive and critical research includes concepts, visions, and techniques that are not usually considered quantitative. Naturalistic research focuses on objects and persons in their natural settings and their natural day to day scenarios.

They are interpretive because the researcher tries to make sense or interpret phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them. This means that what is real, depends on the perspective of the study.

The following are characteristics of this types of research:

• Variables should not be manipulated in an experimental way.
• The researcher can extract meaning from the data without the need to reduce it to pure numbers (although counting can be used, especially when using software like NVivo). 
• Using this paradigm can usually involve large descriptions of the phenomena.
• These paradigms reflect the perception of the participants, without alterations from the researcher.

This week we also talked about the importance of publications. For me, this was an escencial topic. I am already working in Academia, so I need to start building publishing skills as soon as possible.
We discussed what publications can provide a stronger impact in our careers and I will need to remind this order:

1. Papers in journals
2. Books
3. Congress Presentations
4. Book reviews

I feel that the resources available at Western University are an amazing help for us as Scholars. I also should highlight here the incredible support from my supervisor.