These preconceptions embody both hidden assumptions and elements that he describes as quasi-metaphysical the interpretations of the paradigm may vary among individual scientists. Secondly, underpinning this set of exemplars are shared preconceptions, made prior to – and conditioning – the collection of evidence. Firstly, within normal science, the term refers to the set of exemplary experiments that are likely to be copied or emulated. In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn saw the sciences as going through alternating periods of normal science, when an existing model of reality dominates a protracted period of puzzle-solving, and revolution, when the model of reality itself undergoes sudden drastic change. how an experiment is to be conducted, and what equipment is available to conduct the experiment.how the results of scientific investigations should be interpreted.what predictions made by the primary theory within the discipline.how these questions are to be structured.the kind of questions that are supposed to be asked and probed for answers in relation to this subject.In his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (first published in 1962), Kuhn defines a scientific paradigm as: 'universally recognized scientific achievements that, for a time, provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners, i.e., The historian of science Thomas Kuhn gave it its contemporary meaning when he adopted the word to refer to the set of concepts and practices that define a scientific discipline at any particular period of time. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a paradigm as 'a pattern or model, an exemplar a typical instance of something, an example'. See also: Paradigm (experimental) and Scientific consensus A paradigm does not impose a rigid or mechanical approach, but can be taken more or less creatively and flexibly. Normal science proceeds within such a framework or paradigm. Kuhn suggests that certain scientific works, such as Newton's Principia or John Dalton's New System of Chemical Philosophy (1808), provide an open-ended resource: a framework of concepts, results, and procedures within which subsequent work is structured. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy attributes the following description of the term to Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines this usage as 'a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated broadly: a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind.' In linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure used paradigm to refer to a class of elements with similarities. The term had a technical meaning in the field of grammar: the 1900 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines its technical use only in the context of grammar or, in rhetoric, as a term for an illustrative parable or fable. The original Greek term παράδειγμα ( paradeigma) was used in Greek texts such as Plato's Timaeus (28 AD) and Parmenides as one possibility for the model or the pattern that the demiurge used to create the cosmos. Anaximenes defined paradeigma as 'actions that have occurred previously and are similar to, or the opposite of, those which we are now discussing.' It is not the job of a personal accountant to tell their client exactly what (and what not) to spend their money on, but to aid in guiding their client as to how money should be spent based on their financial goals. One way of how a paradeigma is meant to guide an audience would be a personal accountant. This illustration is not meant to take the audience to a conclusion, however it is used to help guide them there. In rhetoric, the purpose of paradeigma is to provide an audience with an illustration of similar occurrences.

Paradigm comes from Greek παράδειγμα ( paradeigma), 'pattern, example, sample' from the verb παραδείκνυμι ( paradeiknumi), 'exhibit, represent, expose' and that from παρά ( para), 'beside, beyond' and δείκνυμι ( deiknumi), 'to show, to point out'.

Paradigm shift psychology