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From newspaper and television documentaries to web sources and academic journals, research on health abounds. As indicated in Chapter 1, the broad area of ‘health research’uses a plurality of research methodologies and related methods, from documentary analysis and unstructured interviews to randomized controlled trials and experimental methods. However, there are differences between particular methodological approaches that are systematic rather than idiosyncratic. In this chapter we make use of the sociological concept of ‘paradigms’ to illustrate the way in which research methodologies are embedded in particular political and ideological positions. This chapter aims to provide a critical overview of what we might broadly call research paradigms. We explore the nature of a paradigm, examining different types of paradigms in health research, and the implications of using a particular paradigm for knowledge production. Furthermore, by giving the reader a critical understanding of the nature of particular research methodologies and associated methods, we aim to provide a means to establish the most effective way of answering research questions about health and health care.