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Research Methods: Interpretivism Vs Positivism - Coggle Diagram
Research Methods: Interpretivism Vs Positivism
Laboratory Experiments - Quantitative
Positivist Argument
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They argue that they have reliability in their hypothesis testing, as they can be controlled, it produced
quantitative data
allowing it to be re-done and compared to the original results and it is a very detached and objective method.
Interpretivist Argument
They argue that human are fundamentally different from rocks, plants and other natural life as we have free will.
Unstructured Interviews - qualitative
Interpretivist Argument
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They prefer to use qualitative methods such as unstructured interviews, because they regard these as producing a more valid picture of how actors give meaning to their actions.
Positivist Argument
They reject the use of unstructured interviews as they're unscientific.
. In their view, this method lacks objectivity and reliability and fails to produce representative data that can be generalised to the wider population.
Official Statistics
Interpretivist Argument
Interpretivists, such as Cicourel (1968) reject positivist claim that official stats are real, objective social facts that exist out there in the world.
. They see statistics as social constructs that represent the labels officials attach to people.
¬ Therefore, rather than taking stats at face value as a useful resource and should treat them as a topic in themselves and investigate how they are socially constructed.
Positivist Argument
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They take it for granted that they're reliable, objective social facts.
. They're a very important resource in the scientific study of society.
¬ They're a major source of representative, quantitative data that allows the sociologist to identify and measure behaviour patterns, test major hypotheses and develop causal laws to explain the patterns of behaviour that the statistics reveal.
Documents - quantitative
Interpretivist Argument
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They often favour the use of documents.
Positivist Argument
They tend to reject them other than as material for content analysis. They regard them as unreliable and unrepresentative sources.
. However, they do sometimes carry out content analysis on documents as a way of producing quantitative data.
Structured Interviews - both
Positivist Argument
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For positivists, structural interviews produce representative and generalisable findings.
. They are reliable, objective and detached method for producing quantitative data, testing hypothesis and developing causal laws of social behaviour.
Interpretivist Argument
They believe that quantitative methods such as structured interviews tend to produce a false picture.
Questionnaires - both
Positivist Argument
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Positivists take a scientific approach and they believe questionnaire based research achieves the main goals of scientific sociology.
. For positivists, questionnaires produce representative findings that can be generalised to the wider population.
¬ They are reliable, objective and detached method for producing quantitative data, testing hypotheses and developing causal laws of social behaviour.
Interpretivist Argument
They seek to deliver the meanings that underline our actions and from which we construct social reality.
. Their main concern is with validity and obtaining an authentic or truthful picture of how actors construct and experience social reality.
¬ For this reason, they tend to reject the use of questionnaires. Arguing that they can't yield valid data about the meanings of social actors.
¬ They think that their are several reasons for this.
Participant Observations - qualitative
Interpretivists Argument
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They prefer this method because they regard it as producing a richly detailed and authentic picture of actors' meaning and life-world.
Positivist Argument
They reject this use of participant observation as an unscientific method.
. In their view, it lacks objectivity and reliability and does not yield representative data that can be generalised to the wider population.
¬ They also reject the interpretivists' claim that it produced valid data.