Which of the following represents the epistemological orientation of…

Qualitative research fundamentally relies on understanding subjective meanings and social contexts, which aligns with the interpretivist epistemological stance. In contrast, positivism and objectivism are typically associated with quantitative research paradigms that seek objective truths. Deductivism is a reasoning approach often linked to hypothesis testing rather than the core epistemological orientation of qualitative inquiry. Therefore, selecting Interpretivism as option 3 accurately reflects the standard academic classification for this research methodology.