The Ontological and Epistemological Foundations of Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Research with Particular Reference to Content and Discourse Analysis of Textbooks

The paper argues that CDA (Critical Discourse Analysis) provides an appropriate research framework for analyzing textbooks with regard to the identification of cultural depictions. By drawing some examples concerning the techniques used in textbook analysis, this paper has come to suggest that each technique reflects aspects of the three major paradigms such as positivism, critical theory and interpretivism. This finding then drives us to reject the methodological distinctions raised by paradigmatic purists, and adopt instead a more hybrid approach to research methodology by supporting the notion that CA (Content Analysis) and CDA suggests a similar ontological underpinning for quantitative and qualitative approaches. Succinctly, this study suggests that any quantitative approach is underpinned by qualitative considerations and vice versa.