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POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVISM - Coggle Diagram
POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVISM
POSITIVISM
believes society shapes the individual
eg. Durkheim's study of suicide
want research to be:
generalisable
representative
reliable
aims to be scientific
detached/ value free/ objective
aims to reduce explanations to a limited number of 'causes'
looks for 'objective' causes of human behaviour
explain human behaviour by looking at 'social facts' which are external from the individual
interested in finding trends and patterns between variables - look for correlations
use of quantitative methods
official statistics
surveys
cross national comparisons
INTERPRETIVISM
believes the individual shapes society
eg. Paul Willis' study of the lads
aims for empathetic understanding
involved research
interested in feelings/emotions
aims for complex, multiple understanding
want research to be:
valid
respondent led
in-depth/ rich data
interested in how individuals explain their own behaviour
aim to let them tell their story
explain human behaviour through individual's own subjective worldview
interested in gaining in-depth insight into individual meanings and motives
use of qualitative methods
unstructured interviews
participant observation
personal documents