Relationship between Theory and Methods

Question 1

What do positivism believe about society?

Answer 1

• Society is an objective reality made up of social structures and social facts that mould an individuals behaviour

Question 2

What perspectives do positivists support?

Answer 2

• Structural theories

Question 3

What methodological approach would positivists take?

Answer 3

• Scientific methods using quantitative methods

Question 4

What research methods do positivists prefer?

Answer 4

1. Statistics
2. Experiments
3. Structured questionnaires
4. Structured interviews
5. Non-Participant observation

Question 5

What do positivists believe about interpretivism?

Answer 5

• It lacks objectivity and non-scientific methods therefore lacking reliability
• Findings are highly subjective and depend on interpretation of the researcher
• Small scale studies leads to a lack of generalisability

Question 6

What is interpretivists views of society?

Answer 6

• Society is a social construction of meanings and interpretations shared by a social group

Question 7

What perspectives do interpretivists support?

Answer 7

• Social action theories

Question 8

What methodological approach would interpretivists take?

Answer 8

• They should use interpretivist approaches using qualitative data

Question 9

What research methods do interpretivists prefer?

Answer 9

1. Documents
2. Open questionnaires
3. Unstructured interviews
4. Group interviews
5. Participant observation

Question 10

Why do interpretivists criticise positivism?

Answer 10

• They believe that scientific methods are inappropriate and lead to a lack of validity
• Official statistics are a social construction
• Large scale studies lack sufficient depth and detail