Dichotomy (/dīˈkädəmē or /day-ka-demi)

What is a Dichotomy?

A dichotomy is an idea or classification split in two and a clear distinction between two
things.

A dichotomy is a contrast between two things or the difference between two opposed ideas,
For example:

war and peace,

love and hate

good and evil,

soul and body,
real and imaginary,
heaven and hell,
male and female,
savage and civilized,
Etc…
What is the Dichotomy in Research?

QUALITATIVE and QUANTITATIVE

What is QUALITATIVE and QUANTITATIVE Dichotomy in Research?

(What is the role of this two opposing concepts in research…)

It bridges your ontological and epistemological assumptions or positions to your choice of data
collection and analysis methods and procedures. These assumptions are usually anchored on either
the qualitative or quantitative paradigm.

What is “ontological and epistemological”? (…and their differences.)

Ontology and epistemology are both important elements of the philosophy of knowledge.

Ontology
-The Latin term ontologia (“science of being”) was felicitously invented by the German philosopher
Jacob Lorhard (Lorhardus) and first appeared in his work Ogdoas Scholastica (1st ed.) in 1606. It
entered general circulation after being popularized by the German rationalist philosopher Christian
Wolff in his Latin writings, especially Philosophia Prima sive Ontologia (1730; “First Philosophy or
Ontology”).
-is a system of belief that reflects an interpretation by an individual about what constitutes a fact.
-is about what things are.

Epistemology
- the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge. The term is derived
from the Greek epistēmē (“knowledge”) and logos (“reason”), and accordingly the field is sometimes
referred to as the theory of knowledge.
- is the investigation of the nature of knowledge itself. Its study focuses on our means for acquiring
knowledge and how we can differentiate between truth and falsehood.
- is about the way we know things

For example:

Ontology: There is God.

Epistemology: How do you know it?

What is a Paradigm?

The term “paradigm” is associated with Thomas Kuhn’s (1970) analysis of revolutions in science.
A paradigm is a cluster of beliefs, and dictates which for scientists in a particular discipline influence
what should be studied, how research should be done, (and) what constitutes legitimate problems,
solutions, and criteria of proof.

It is an intellectual perception or view, accepted by an individual or a society as a clear example,

model, or pattern of how things work in the world.
-Thomas Kuhn’s (1970) analysis of revolutions in science.

A paradigm is "a world view, a way of ordering and simplifying the perceptual world's stunning
complexity by making certain fundamental assumptions about the nature of the universe, of the
individual, and of society.
Paradigms are normative; they determine what the practitioner views as important and unimportant,
reasonable and unreasonable, legitimate and illegitimate, possible and impossible, and what to attend
to and what to ignore.

In Research, paradigms can be broadly classified into two, namely, the qualitative and quantitative
paradigms.

A qualitative study is said to be consistent with the assumptions of a qualitative paradigm,

while a quantitative study is with the assumptions of a quantitative paradigm.

What is “ASSUMPTION” means in the Paradigms of Research?

An assumption is an unexamined belief: what we think without realizing we think it.

Our inferences (also called conclusions) are often based on assumptions that we haven't thought
about critically.

In short, Research is filtered with the paradigms of Qualitative study and Quantitative study.

What is a Qualitative and Quantitative study?

A qualitative study is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem,

based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of
informants, and conducted in a natural setting (Creswell 1994, 2).

A quantitative study, on the other hand, “is an inquiry into social or human problem,
based on testing a theory, composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with
statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold
true” (ibid).

What are other Assumptions in the Paradigm of Research?

Ontological, epistemological, axiological, rhetorical, and methodological assumptions.

What is: Ontological, epistemological, axiological, rhetorical, and methodological assumptions?

What is the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative in terms of the different assumptions of
paradigm?
What is the difference between Research and Study?
What is the relevance of inductive and deductive research with Qualitative and Quantitative research?