Relationship between positivism and Interpretivism

• What are the two types?

  • Positivism and interpretivism
• What is Interpretivism an example of?

  • Social action theory
• What is Positivism an example of?

  Structures
• What is an example of positivist research?

  Durkheim
• What is an example of a interpretivist research?

  Atkinson
• • Durkheim (Positivist) - wanted to study the social effects of suicide. This was called social facts (moulds their behaviour).
  • Findings in national statistics:
  • War time, Unmarried and childless, more likely to be protestants than catholics
• • Atkinson (Interpretivist) - wanted to ask the living on why people committed suicide, they did this by interviewing coroners/reading transcripts.
  • Findings:
  • Coroners and doctors had a "common sense" when explaining suicide
• What categories are sociological issues spilt into?

  • Ethical
  • Practical
  • Theoretical
• Practical issues

  • Money
  • Time
  • Safety
  • Characteristics of the researcher
• Theoretical Issues

  • Interpretivist and Positivist
  • Qualitative and Quantitive data
  • Validity and reliability
• Ethical issues

  • Confidentiality and Privacy
  • Protection from harm
  • Informed consent
  • Right to withdraw
  • Deception
• Explain the research process

  1. Choosing the topic - Funding, the values and interests of the researcher, Theoretical position(marxist/functionalist etc...), access and availability to the data
  2. Choosing the method - Practical and theoretical issues
  3. Ethical considerations - Ethical issues