Postpositivist Inquiry: Implications of the "New Philosophy of Science" for the Field of the Education of the Gifted

Abstract

In this paper I sketch the outlines of an emerging postpositivist paradigm for inquiry and research. This new paradigm is the product of recent thinking in philosophy, the natural sciences, and the social sciences—the so-called "new philosophy of science" (Phillips, 1987)— and has been embraced primarily, but not exclusively, by investigators using qualitative methods. Drawing heavily upon the work of Lincoln and Guba (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Guba & Lincoln, 1989), I delineate the axioms (basic beliefs) underlying this approach and then consider the methodological implications that follow logically from the axioms. Finally, I suggest some applications of postpositivist inquiry in the field of the education of the gifted.