Positivism and Interpretivism

• Sociologists fall broadly into two groups depending on what they think the best way to study society is; positivist or interpretivist. These viewpoints will then impact on their choice of research method
• Positivism 


  • Positivism refers to the belief that there are ‘social facts’ that can be studied objectively using methods that are similar to the natural sciences (e.g. physics, chemistry and biology).
  • Positivist methods produce quantitative data on social patterns and trends which can be used to explain society.
• Positivist research methods include:

  • Laboratory experiments.
  • The comparative method.
  • Social surveys.
  • Structured questionnaires.
• • Positivist research methods include:
  • Formal/structured interviews.
  • Non-participant observation.
  • Official statistics.
  • Content analysis.
• Interpretivism 


  • Interpretivism implies that people are conscious of their personal beliefs, meanings, values, and interpretations, and that these influence the way they act.
• • From an interpretivist perspective, the researcher attempts to gain an in-depth understanding of how people see and understand the world around them by putting themselves in the position of those being studied; to understand things from their point of view.
• • Interpretivists use qualitative methods in order to study social phenomena, including:
  • Uncontrolled field experiments.
  • Open-ended questionnaires.
  • Unstructured interviews.
  • Overt and covert participant and non-participant observation.
  • Personal accounts, using personal documents such as diaries and letters.