A point of view in which some principles, approaches, concepts, and even theories, have been stated uniformly. A set of assumptions about reality that, when applied to a particular situation, can be used as a guide for action. For example, the Quality Improvement Paradigm. [ISERN]
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. [Merriam-Webster's dictionary, 2002]