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Many students write "I used a positivist approach" or "I used an interpretivist approach" in their methodology without truly understanding what those words mean. The research model isn't a box you tick. It's a set of commitments about the nature of reality and how we can know it. Getting this right changes how you design your research, what methods you use, and how you analyse findings.
A research model rests on two foundational questions. What exists? (Ontology) How can we know what exists? (Epistemology) Different models answer these questions differently. Those different answers lead to different research designs.
The Four Major Models
Positivism asserts that there's a single, objective reality independent of our beliefs or perceptions. This reality can be measured and understood through observation and logic. Knowledge is built by collecting objective data and identifying patterns and laws. Positivism typically generates quantitative research using measurement, experiment, and statistical analysis.
If you're positivist, you believe your research measures something real. When you measure student achievement, you're measuring something that truly exists independent of whether students or teachers perceive it. Your measurements are objective. Statistics reveal patterns in reality. Your job is to collect good data and analyse it rigorously.
Interpretivism (also called constructivism) asserts that reality is socially constructed. What exists is, in part, created by human meaning-making. The social world is basic different from the physical world because people create meaning. Knowledge is built through understanding how people interpret their worlds. Interpretivism typically generates qualitative research using interviews, observation, and textual analysis.
If you're interpretivist, you believe that when you interview people about their experiences, you're not accessing objective facts. You're accessing their interpretations of experience. Those interpretations are genuine and valuable, but they're interpretations. Your job is to understand how people make sense of their worlds.
Critical realism asserts that there's an objective reality, but it's layered and complex. We've access to it only through our interpretations. Some aspects of reality exist independent of human perception (rocks, atoms, gravity). Some aspects are socially constructed but have real effects (money, nationality, social roles). Knowledge is always interpretation, but interpretation can be more or less accurate. Critical realism often generates mixed methods research combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, examining both what exists and how people interpret it.
If you're critical realist, you believe that social structures exist (class systems truly shape life chances) but they exist through human interpretation and can be changed. Your research might quantify patterns (showing that class correlates with educational outcomes) and qualitatively explore how people experience class. Both approaches reveal something real.
Pragmatism asserts that the test of truth is practical usefulness. The question isn't "What's real?" but "What works?" Different approaches are useful for different questions. You choose methods based on what will answer your research question effectively. Pragmatism is often associated with mixed methods research.
If you're pragmatist, you're not committed to a single ontology or epistemology. You ask what methods will best answer your question and you use them. If a question requires quantitative data, you collect it. If it requires qualitative understanding, you do that. If both matter, you combine them.
What Each Model Commits You To
Choosing a model commits you to specific claims about your research.
Positivism commits you to objectivity. Your data collection should be unbiased. Your analysis should be systematic and replicable. Your findings represent reality, not your interpretation. If someone replicated your study exactly, they should get the same results. This commitment shapes how you design research. You standardise measurements. You use control groups. You seek statistically considerable results.
Interpretivism commits you to acknowledging that you're studying human interpretation. Your data collection can't be objective because you're part of what you're studying. Your interpretation of data is legitimate but it's still interpretation. Different researchers might interpret the same data differently, and both could be valid. This commitment shapes how you design research. You use thick description. You provide multiple participant voices. You acknowledge your own perspective.
Critical realism commits you to recognising both objective reality and social construction. Your research should examine both. It should also acknowledge that social structures have real consequences even though they're constructed. This commitment often generates research designs using mixed methods: quantitative data revealing patterns and qualitative data revealing how people experience those patterns.
Pragmatism commits you to usefulness. Your research should produce findings that matter practically. You're not committed to pure knowledge for knowledge's sake. You're interested in what works and what helps. This commitment shapes how you design research and how you present findings. You focus on applicability.
Why "Mixed Methods" Is Sometimes But Not Always Supported by Pragmatism
Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative data. This might seem to automatically rest on pragmatism: "we're using both because both are useful." But it doesn't have to.
You could design mixed methods research from a critical realist perspective: "We're examining both the objective patterns in our data (through quantitative analysis) and how people interpret those patterns (through qualitative analysis) because social reality has both dimensions."
You could design mixed methods research from an interpretivist perspective focused on triangulation: "We're using interviews, observation, and documents because together they give us a richer interpretation of how people make sense of their world than any single method could."
Mixed methods doesn't automatically signal pragmatism. You need to justify why you're combining methods, and that justification rests on your modelatic position.
The Relationship Between Model, Methodology, and Method
These three terms are often confused. Model is your worldview. It's your answer to "what exists and how can we know it?" Methodology is your overall approach to research. It's your answer to "given my modelatic position, how will I design this research?" Method is the specific tool. It's your answer to "exactly what technique will I use to collect or analyse data?"
Model: I believe reality is socially constructed, so interpretivism is my model.
Methodology: Given that belief, I'll use qualitative research methods to understand how people interpret their worlds.
Method: Specifically, I'll conduct semi-structured interviews lasting 45 minutes with 20 participants.
These three are connected but distinct.
Why Your Methodology Chapter Requires You to State and Justify Your Modelatic Position
Your methodology chapter shouldn't just describe your methods. It should explain your modelatic position and why it's appropriate for your research.
Stating your model means writing something like: "This research adopts a critical realist model. It assumes that objective social structures exist and shape outcomes, but that these structures operate through human interpretation and can be investigated through understanding how people experience them."
Justifying your model means explaining why this model fits your research. "This research examines social inequality, which requires recognising both that inequality structures exist and shape outcomes (requiring quantitative measurement) and that people experience inequality in specific ways (requiring qualitative understanding). Critical realism accommodates both."
This isn't abstract philosophy. It's clarifying the foundations of your research. It shows that you've thought through why you designed your research as you did.
A research model is foundational. It shapes your entire dissertation. Understanding it clarifies why you made the methodological choices you made. Stating it clearly in your methodology chapter demonstrates sophisticated research thinking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I've to be committed to one model throughout my dissertation? A: Yes, basic. You can acknowledge that multiple models have value and that you're drawing primarily on one. But you should be clear which model is guiding your research. Shifting models within a dissertation is confusing and muddles your methodological foundations.
Q: Can I use pragmatism if I'm unsure about ontology and epistemology? A: Pragmatism is a legitimate model, not a cop-out for avoiding philosophical commitment. If you truly believe that the question "is it real?" is less important than "does it work," you're pragmatist. But if you're pragmatist because you're avoiding thinking through your modelatic position, your methodology chapter will be weak. Think it through.
Q: What if my supervisor recommended a model different from what I thought? A: Listen to your supervisor. They've thought through your research design. If they recommend critical realism instead of interpretivism, there's likely a reason. Discuss with them why they're recommending it. You'll understand your research better.
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Ensure you understand your institution's marking criteria and style requirements. Use credible academic sources, maintain proper referencing throughout, follow a logical structure and conduct multiple rounds of revision. Seeking feedback from supervisors or professional services also helps identify areas for improvement.
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