Sophia wants to answer the theoretical question, "Is birth order is related to communication apprehension?" She asks students who have one or more siblings to complete a survey that measures a person's level of apprehension. Which paradigm is influencing Martha's choice of research methods?

a. empiricism (i.e., she's a social scientist)

b. humanism (i.e., she's a humanist)

c. the systems perspective

d. the rules perspective