Chemistry problem-solving skills: A critique of a critique

This article offers a critique of Nomvete's (1995) and reveals, inter alia, that the concerns in Nomvete's (1995) critique are undergirded by a demonstrated lack of familiarity with tne existence of non-experimental resarch paradigms, resulting in his superimposition of an empirical.experimental research paradigrrj, yielding quantitative data, on a non-experlmental 'study, In view of this, the present writers offer a brief descriptionption of the major charaGteristics of experirnental research paradigm and contrasts these against the emergent non-experimental research .approaches, thereby .:illustrating the importance of seeing these two research traditions as complimentary, and not as competitors, Hence, a point is made that. in the final analysis the ultimate and ideal research paradigm for behavioural science research, will be one which amalgamates pertinent haracteristics of both experimental and non-experimental research traditions.