The key to what “paradigm” means is the last element – exemplars.  The first two – a formal language and theories – are pretty easy to understand.  In fact, sometimes the word paradigm is used as a synonym for “theory” – but actually it means more than that.  The hardest part to understand about a paradigm is the last element – the exemplars.

The “formal language” and the “theories” – these refer to the objective/logical side of research.  This is something that most researchers understand quite easily.

However, Kuhn’s explanation of “exemplars” shifts us to the behavioral side of research – in other words, this is where we researchers ourselves become research subjects, and we become the object of somebody else’s research.  This is a subtle shift in perspective, and most researchers who use the term “paradigm” have missed this subtlety.