positivism & interpretivism Flashcards
what is positivism?
a method of study based on DIRECTLY OBSERVABLE FACTS which can be objectively measured, from which it’s possible to identify cause and effect relationsips.
- compte
positivist sociologists should …
be value free and objective
- adopt a scientific approach
- don’t let their own opinions influence their research
- try to remain neutral and detached - no bias
why does Durkheim follow the positivist approach?
SOCIAL FACTS - measured objectively and can be quantified
CORRELATIONS can be calculated between facts
CAUSATION - if there’s a strong correlation (must be cautious)
STATISTICAL DATA - quantitative methods
positivist sociologists would conduct research by … (9) (comp gucci)
identify patterns and trends in data
make comparisons of data
conduct research where data can be checked for consistency
- research would be conducted again
conduct research that is objective and value free
conduct large scale data collection
operationalise key variables (define and measure them)
use quantitative data collection methods
pilot study is likely
graphs and charts are used (comparison, trends)
disadvantages of positivism (4)
people INTERPRET situations DIFFERENTLY
- must be cautious
- the laws of causation in natural world won’t apply to social world - everyone thinks / behaves / feels differently
ignores that humans have FREE WILL
- can’t put them in a lab - they won’t act naturally
ignores the SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE of people
- how people feel and act = important
- the objective approach ignores interpretations and meanings of actions
focuses on FACTS & STATS
- ignores feelings
- lacks validity
- not a good way to understand behaviour
advantages of using statistical data (no…, you can …)
stats = no bias, more objective
- can identify patterns & trends and COMPARE
- able to critically analyse
- identify factors that may need further investigation
disadvantage of statistical data (v)
doesn’t tell us what the data actually means
- depth, meaning and reasoning are excluded
- verstehen = lacking
advantages of using correlation
useful to show if relationship exists between 2 variables
- shows direction and strength
- eg social class and income
disadvantage of using correlation
doesn’t accurately predict cause and effect
- confounding variable - third variable that wasn’t accounted for
advantage of experiments
lab experiments have high control over variables
- scientific, objective
disadvantage of lab experiments
can be very artificial
- lacks ecological validity - may not be able to generalise results
what is interpretivism?
opposite of positivism
- believes positivist approaches are inadequate
- uses qualitative data that is rich, detailed, high quality
- focus on meanings, motives, interpretations
what do interpretivists believe about cause and effect?
believe it’s IMPOSSIBLE
- human behaviour = unpredictable
- findings will be influenced by values - not possible to be value free
- eg studying domestic violence would be upsetting
Interpretivists would advocate the use of …
qualitative data collection
- about the interpretation of social action - interpretations of meanings and motives
- difficult to interpret meanings from quantitative data
interpretivists reject the use of …
Positivist methods and the natural sciences
- in sociology we’re dealing with humans who have CONSCIOUS thoughts and display meaningful behaviour
- also state that humans are exposed to situations and then must reposed to them
- MEANING is attached to how humans respond to the social world
