Postpositivism

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Many philosophies have shaped social science methodology in the last 100 years. Two in particular—positivism and postpositivism—are currently being debated for their efficacy. In positivism, phenomena are described. This philosophy holds that knowledge is created through direct observation and measurement. Thus, it adheres strongly to the rules of formal logic and scientific method, with a hypothesis being confirmed or rejected on the basis of data. Among the numerous examples of positivism used in social science are the behaviorism studies of Skinnerera psychologists and the positivist methodology advocated by economists such as Milton Friedman. The positivist paradigm consists of five key elements:

• An objective reality exists independent of an individual's perception.
• Phenomena that cannot be observed directly or indirectly have no place in research.
• Scientific knowledge is created only through accumulation of verified facts.
• Science is deductive in that hypotheses are derived from scientific theories and are subjected to empirical testing.
• Researchers should be value neutral to achieve objectivity.

However, the fact that people think, have feelings, communicate through language, attribute meaning to their environment, and have different beliefs and personal characteristics makes the positivist paradigm suspect. Also, social science theories are unlikely to apply across time and place and cannot be the sole source of hypotheses. Put differently, knowledge is relative and shaped by a variety of factors, including the cognition of the subject and social and cultural conditions, as well as symbols and their interpretations. Although we all live in the same world, we perceive its reality differently. In other words, scientific knowledge must be developed through inductive as well as deductive empirical study, because social order and business transactions are produced through interpersonal negotiations and shared experience. One makes patterns of meaning about the world due to this shared experience and assumes these patterns to exist.

Postpositivism recognizes that the complexities of human behavior make it difficult to isolate cause and effect and that there may be inherent bias in the observer despite the appearance of objectivity. In conducting research from a post-positivist orientation the research methodology is chosen accordingly to encompass the diversity of processes inherent in the production of knowledge. Instead of relying on a single, imperfect type of experiment a postpositivist approach draws on multiple methods of observations. These different measurements are triangulated in an attempt to correct for problems of validity and bias. Postpositivists hold that there is no way to determine the absolute truth, that the closest one can get is to triangulate using different approaches to the problem. It is also acknowledged that the strength of one method often lies in an area of weakness of another method. Among the types of triangulation are strategic (i.e., the use of multiple research strategies), metric based (i.e., examining [Page 702]the differences and similarities between indicators and constructs), and methodological (i.e., the use of multiple methods to assess relationships).

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