Positivism vs Interpretivism Flashcards
Positivism Strengths
- relies on quantitative data
- Considered to be objective
- follows a well-defined structure - less errors are made
- Has a clear theoretical focus - Researcher has full control
Positivism Strengths - Quantitative
Positivism relies on quantitative data which is more ‘scientific’ in its methods - makes it more trustworthy and reliable.
It provides objective info that researchers can use to make assumptions
Positivism Strengths - Structure
Positivist research follows a well-defined structure during studies & discussions.
more laws & rules = less errors made
Positivist Strengths - Theoretical focus
Positivist research has a clear theoretical focus as the researcher has full control (due to its quantitative and limited data collection).
This avoids open-ended research problems whose future is dependent upon the work of respondents.
Positivist Weaknesses
- Inflexibility
- Human behaviour
- No rapport
- Unrealistic
Positivist Weakness - Human Behaviour
Positivists believe that objective truths and inferences can be discovered if the researcher remains objective & disregards their emotions.
HOWEVER
Human behaviour naturally comes with emotions.
There is no garuntee that researchers can remain entirely objective throughout the research process - no matter how much positivists encourage it
Positivist Weakness - Inflexibility
Belief that everything can be measured & calculated = inflexible
See things as they are & disregard unexplained phenomena - this eliminates lateral thinking (the ability to uncover answers creatively & indirectly finding out ways to solve a problem)
Positivist Weaknesses - No Rapport
Due to the scientific and detached way of conducting research, positivists do not build a rapport with their subjects.
Limits validity - do not feel comfortable enough to be completely honest & open - may not hear something that they would have if they treated their subjects as less of a science experiment and more like human beings.
Positivist Weakness - Unrealistic
Its search for the ideal and perfect methodology and analysis are too unrealistic when set beside the complexity of social phenomena.
Social phenomena & human behaviour is far too complex to be reduced down to one variable and investigated like a science project.
There are a variety of factors affecting human behaviour that does not affect substances investigated in the natural sciences:
- Laws and social policies
- Socialisation
- Socio-economic background
- personal motivations
- Personality
- etc
Interpretivist Strengths
- High in Validity
- Qualitative data
- Achieves verstehen
- Subjective
- Allows for complexity and contextual factors
Interpretivist Strengths - Valid
Responses = valid
The individual matters in the research and often builds a rapport with the researcher
So they feel comfortable enough to be open & honest.
Therefore they give a good reflection of how people are truly thinking & feeling, often providing an accurate picture of what the researcher intended to investigate.
Interpretivist Strenghts - Qualitative
Emphasise importance of qualitative data
Increases validity
Researchers get a true reflection of what it is they are studying.
Interpretivist Strengths - Verstehen
Researchers build a rapport with their subjects to gain verstehen
This provides them with accurate & true qualitative data
Researcher can make valid and evidenced assumptions/conclusions about their research topic as they have a deep understanding of it.
Interpretivist Strengths - Subjective
Researchers will only research into topics they believe to be worthy or a problem that needs solving.
Researchers can become immersed in the research and determined to uncover the truth/answers etc - also means they will ensure it gets done properly and accurately as they care about it.
Allows researchers to build a good rapport with informants
Can use their own personal experiences and thoughts & feelings to uncover more truths/layers/meanings etc
Interpretivist Strengths - Complexity and contextual factors
The manner of avoiding research like a scientific study and the need to control all variables allows the research to be carried out as if it were in the natural world and takes into account all aspects of that which are removed during positivist research.
take into consideration the complexity of social phenomena and include it in their research.
Interpretivist Weaknesses
- Not always generalisable
- Not always representative
- Low reliability
- Researcher imposition (bias)
- Time consuming
Interpretivist Weaknesses - Generalisable
Qualitative research is conducted on a particular set of population that has their own unique demographic, psychological, sociological and cultural characteristics - findings cannot be applied to those who do not share these characteristics
Qualitative research = time consuming
so often uses small sample sizes - not generalisable to larger population
HOWEVER
Interpretivist, qualiotative research seeks to investigate a specific social phenomena and so does not aim to be generalisable
BUT
can be argued that this is pointless - it doesn’t help anyone to solve anything or provide any life changing information - it’s just interesting
Interpretivist Weaknesses - Representative
Interpretivist research is very time consuming as the researchers aim to gather verstehen.
They spend a lot of time building a rapport with participants and getting as much detail from them as possible (EG through open interviews which can last for as long as the participant keeps talking)
this means that researchers often have small sample size and therefore their research is not representative of a larger population.
Interpretivist research also focuses on one singular aspect of social phenomena
therefore their sample usually consists of people with similar socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, social standing, occupations, age etc
As a result their already small sample size is not representative of a wider society - cannot be generalisable.
HOWEVER, can be argued that this is done purposefully - to research this singular aspect of social phenomena.
Interpretivist Weaknesses - Reliability
Low reliability
Interpretivist research methods depend on personal relationships established between the responder and the researcher - difficult for other researchers to repeat the research & check for reliability.
Interpretivist Weaknesses - Bias
Interpretivists allow values to influence research.
This allows for researcher imposition.
Positivists argue that this will enable researcher to manipulate the study into providing them with the data they want.
This means that research = not reliable or even very valid - researcher paints a picture of what they want not a true reflection of reality
Interpretivist Weakness - Time
interpretivist researchers want to gain verstehen through qualitative research methods
requires building rapport = takes time
Go into detail
interviewers/researchers/observers = £££
ust be able to gather this verstehen through pushing participants to provide detail and be honest without feeling pressured or uncomfortable
Durkheim’s study of Suicide
EG of Positivist research
study to find out what social forces or structures affected suicide rates..
Used the scientific method
Studied common factors among those who committed suicide
Close analysis of official statistics:
- countries experiencing rapid social change had higher suicide rates
- divorced had higher rates than the married
- protestants had higher rates than catholics
These patterns remained relatively stable over a long period of time - if suicide was a personal decision with no influence from social factors then these patterns would be random
Conclusion = suicide rates increase when there is too little or too much social regulation and social integration.
Social regulation = the extent to which there are clear norms & values in society
social integration = the extent to which people belong in society
Completed this study to prove that such an emotional and personal topic could be studied in a scientific manner - therefore any topic could be researched in a scientific way.
Willis - Learning to Labour
EG of interpretivist research
Aimed to uncover why w/c boys got w/c jobs
ethnographic, longitudinal study of 12 w/c ‘lads’
Total of 18 months observing them in school and then followed them for a further 6 months while they were in work.
Wide range of qualitative methodology including:
- interviews
- group discussions
- participant observation
to understand the participants actions from their point of view.
Participant observation allowed Willis to immerse himself into the social setting of the lads and gave him the opportunity to ask them (often open) questions about their behaviour that day or the night before, encouraging them to explain themselves in their own words
Practical Issues with Learning to Labour
Time consuming - 2 years of research + 2 years of writing results
low reliability - difficult to repeat experiment nowadays as it is harder to gain access into schools (need a gatekeeper)
Funding - would not be given nowadays due to the time taken and sample size
