Interprevism

• Interpretivism


  A methodological approach that examines the individual interpretations that people have about their social behaviors
• Interpretivism vs Positivism


  Interpretivism focuses on trying to gain an insight into the unique experiences of individuals and groups rather than approaching social issues objectively like positivists
• Interpretivism


  • Focuses on trying to understand the meanings people give and the motivations people have to act in specific manner in different contexts
  • Suggests that researchers need to develop empathy or 'verstehen' with the subjects of the research in order to better understand the social location of these people
• Society


  Constructed of individuals and the decisions and behaviors of these individuals shape social institutions
• Interpretivism vs Positivism


  Interpretivism looks at microsociology - the meanings that individuals prescribe to events, rather than society's meta-narrative like positivism
• Qualitative data


  More subjective as individuals will have their own opinions on events
• Interpretivism


  • Suggests that due to individuals having free will and being able to act differently, albeit within the confines of social structures, humans cannot be studied scientifically
• Interpretivist research methods


  • Observations (participant or non-participant)
  • Use of personal and historical documents
  • Open-ended questionnaires
  • Unstructured interviews
• Strengths of interpretivist methods

  • Higher in validity than positivist methods as they probe deeper than the surface of social facts
  • Uncover the meanings and motivations of people's actions
  • Produce qualitative data which helps researchers to uncover hidden meanings
  • Allow researchers from middle class backgrounds to understand the views of those outside their social class or ethnic group
  • Provide a voice to the underdog in society
  • Can gain an insight into hard-to-reach groups
• Limitations of interpretivist methods

  • Difficult to replicate, particularly methods like participant observation and unstructured interviews, which means they can lack reliability
  • Researcher can have too much influence, interpreting actions to fit their theoretical position or research aims
  • Tend to be small-scale and focused on atypical groups, making it difficult to generalize to the wider population
  • Seen as unscientific and not able to be falsified, so often rejected for decision and policy making
• Interpretivist research


  • Willis's 'Learning to Labour'
  • Jack Young's research into deviancy amplification
  • Research by Fuller, Archer, McEngle on the impacts of education on different social groups