Dialectical Pluralism

Abstract

There has been much debate about the role of paradigms in mixed methods research. In the face of past calls for each researcher to operate within a single paradigm, it turns out that some researchers/practitioners find many positive features in more than one paradigm. This “multiparadigmatic perspective” used in mixed methods research needs a systematic framework for the practice of engaging in difference. Also, individuals committed to a single paradigm need a philosophical/theoretical framework for working in multiparadigmatic teams. This article provides such a framework. It is a metaparadigm, and it is labeled dialectical pluralism 2.0 or more simply dialectical pluralism. The word “pluralism” refers to the acceptance and expectancy of difference in virtually every realm of inquiry, including reality, and the age-old word “dialectical” refers to the operative process which is both dialectical and dialogical. Dialectical pluralism provides a way for researchers, practitioners, clients, policy makers, and other stakeholders to work together and produce new workable “wholes” while, concurrently, thriving on differences and intellectual tensions.