UNDERSTANDING WHY SCHOLARS CHOOSE TO WORK IN ALTERNATIVE INQUIRY PARADIGMS

With the rise of alternative inquiry paradigmsacross academic fields, faculty within the same academicdepartments choose to ground themselves within different intellectual traditions and distinctacademic cultures, not simply those parallel to thepositivist tradition. One illustration of the emergingparadigmatic pluralism across academe is the actual paradigm choice by individual scholars.Appreciating these paradigm choices is critical if weare to interpret the faculty work and faculty culturethat shape institutional culture and influence resource allocation at universities and colleges. Usingqualitative methods, I focus upon a single discipline inmy exploratory study, law, but extend these concepts andissues in analyzing and interpreting my findings to how they might apply to faculty working inother academic fields.