Research paradigms for Counselling Psychology

A paradigm is defined as a “set of assumptions about the social world which provides a philosophical and conceptual framework for the study of that world” (Filstead, 1979, in Ponterotto, 2005, p. 127). According to their chosen research paradigm, researchers will hold specific views about the nature of reality (ontology), knowledge and knowing (epistemology), values of research (axiology), and the process and procedures of research (methodology) (Ponterotto, 2005).