Interpretivists

Question 1

What do interpretivists believe?

Answer 1

Social reality is subjective as it tries to understand the meanings and experiences that individuals attach to their actions and the social world around them as they perceive people through alive interpretations to create reality through motivations, beliefs and values. it recognises that each perspective is unique and diverse as emphasised through conscious nature of humans by Weber

Question 2

What do meanings and experiences suggest?

Answer 2

• social reality is subjective through shared meanings and interpretations
• rejects the idea that human interactions are predictable as they as active creator of their future through intent and purpose
• explore how social groups are impacted open experiences as they interact with one another through communication as well as behavior

Question 3

What is verstehen and empathy?

Answer 3

• it refers to the process of understanding social behaviors from the perspectives of those engaged in it
• this is achieved through empathy to gain a deeper understanding of their actions and motivations

Question 4

What is rapport?

Answer 4

Building a positive relationship with the research participants to foster trust and openness to create a true picture of their lives

Question 5

What are ethnographic research methods?

Answer 5

They involve trying to understand social behavior and the organisation of societies and cultures by going out and talking to people wherever they are and whatever they are doing inserting themselves into the everyday world

Question 6

What is researcher imposition?

Answer 6

• mindful of how their own biases and preconceptions influence the research process and findings
• attempt to minimise this by being reflective and open to diverse perspectives

Question 7

What is reflexivity?

Answer 7

This involves critically examining their own role and potential biases (unconscious framing of questions, giving more attention to responses that align with their beliefs and overlooking the diversity of individual experiences) in the research process by recording trials and tribulations of every stage of the research. It is essentially of self evaluation of experiences and influences through:
- acknowledging their own preconceptions and question the tendencies of creating generalisations through social background
- seeking a diverse range of voices and experiences
- research is transparent about potential biases through beliefs
- how power inequalities between the researcher ad research subjects affected the quality of data collected
- social context of the research
- potential mistakes

Question 8

What is qualitative data for interpretivists?

Answer 8

• Usually written accounts, surveys and participant / non - participant observations with detailed descriptions, narratives and observations creating a nuanced view of social phenomena
• often in verbatim about the social world
• they prefer primary research methods to reflect natural conversation style but secondary also holds significant impact to understand the subject’s interpretation of reality

Question 9

How do positivists criticise interpretivists?

Answer 9

• They make attempt to find independent variables or cases because of how unsystematic it is
• The role of the researcher could influence the behavior being studies
• Social context isn’t recognised in ethnographic research
• Difficult to replicate therefore could be seen as less reliable
• Qualitative data may be biased due to researcher imposition on the objective and selective interpretations to be published which could lead to under representation

Question 10

What of the positives of interpretivists?

Answer 10

• Higher validity as they uncover meanings and motivations
• Present marginalised and socially isolated groups

Question 11

What are the negatives of interpretivists?

Answer 11

• Difficult to replicate limits reliability
• Lacks objectivity
• It cannot be used to generalise the wider population
• Unscientific as it is difficult to falsify the conclusions of research