Thomas Kuhn developed the construct of research paradigms to make sense of the history of conceptual change in the physical sciences. The construct has since been appropriated by a number of academic fields and by non-academics as well. This paper traces the use of the construct in the educational research field. The bulk of the paper is organized around two questions: (a) Was it ever appropriate to characterize the educational research field's acceptance of qualitative methods as equivalent to one of Kuhn's paradigm revolutions? (b) Is paradigm talk appropriate today?