Examine the Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Both Positivist and Interpretivist Methods of Research (20)

The major scientific method in the natural sciences used for collecting data is the laboratory experiment. In Sociology, the major scientific method used by positivists is the social or sample survey, which incorporates the use of the questionnaire and/or structured interview. Positivists also advocate the use of some types of secondary data, particularly official statistics.

This style of research makes it easy to target large populations of people. Another pro is that the survey can be as specific or general as you like, dependent upon the questions you wish to ask. You can ask open questions which will give you detailed responses, or closed questions which are quick to interpret data from and you will get fast results. By using this method you can repeatedly use the same survey over a period of time to assess any changes that may be taking place.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Participant Observation as a Research Method This essay will examine how participant observation is used as a research method. In the main body of this essay, this idea will be addressed by pointing out advantages and disadvantages of participant observation. I will give examples to support my argument.

Many sociologists argue that theoretical issues are the most important factors to affect choice of method. Theoretical issues refer to what we think society is like and if we can obtain an accurate and truthful picture of it. There are four different concerns regarding theoretical issues which influence sociologist’s choice of research methods. Validity is a method that gives a true or genuine picture of what something is really like, which helps the researcher easily find out the truth. Sociologists argue that the use of qualitative methods such as Participant Observation gives a more valid, truthful account as it

“Interpretive research begins and ends with the biography and self of the researcher." (Denzin, 1989, p.12). The positivist researcher is not affected by the subject of the research because he makes generalizations. (Saunders, 2003 p. 83). When the investigator is a positivist, he tends to use methods like experiments, surveys and field studies to generate data. In this approach, the interviewer is more likely to be an outsider which means that the investigator does not have any relation with the study group.

There are several theoretical frameworks depending on the research's goal and purposes. Quantitative paradigm is based on positivism paradigm. In, contrast the qualitative paradigm is based on interpretivism and constructivism based on one construction of reality Altheide and Johnson (1994). The ontological position of quantitative paradigm is that there is one truth, an objective reality that exists independent of human perception. Epistemologically the investigator and investigated are dependent entities. Therefore, the investigator is capable of study a phenomenon without influencing it or being influenced by it Guba & Lincoln (1994). In qualitative, epistemological level there is no access to reality independent of our minds no external referent by which to compare claims of truth Smith (1983). The investigator and the object of study are interactively linked so that findings are mutually created within the context of the situation which shapes the inquiry Denzin & Lincoln (1994). This suggest that reality has no existence prior to the activity of investigation and reality ceases to exist when no longer focus on it Smith (1983).

Positivist sociologists would argue that unstructured interviews are a disadvantage for sociologists to use in sociological research because it cannot be quantified. As unstructured interviews are mainly open-ended questions, the answers cannot be pre-coded. This lack of quantitative data makes unstructured interviews less useful for establishing a cause-and-effect relationship and hypothesis testing that positivists prefer. For example, it is impossible to quantify how a woman might feel after experiencing domestic violence, making it difficult to establish a relationship between the actions taken against women and the long term psychological effect. Therefore, unstructured interviews are a disadvantage when used in sociological research. However, interpretivist sociologists may see the

Researchers often times are faced with the decision of choosing a methodology of research; either Quantitative or Qualitative that they think best fits their study and objectives. This choice is guarded by the topic of study, the advantages and disadvantages, and the strengths and weaknesses of using either one or the other type of the methodologies.

Qualitative research comprises of receiving information that gives a verbal expression of the participates, providing more detail and depth than quantitative studies. It can be used to analysis people’s attitudes and emotions towards a topic encouraging them to expand on their answers to explain the reasons behind why they gave a particular response. The drawbacks to this being as it requires more time to collect the data so smaller sample sizes

There are many benefits of utilizing quantitative methods in research. The benefits are precise numerical data, previously constructed theories can be tested and validated, results can be generated from sufficient random samples sizes, and less time is needed for data analysis. The weaknesses of quantitative methods are that due to the focus of the theory used the researcher may miss phenomena occurring, or the information gained may be too general to be applied to the individuals. The other weaknesses are colleagues may not understand the categories used, and colleagues may not understand the theories used by the researchers. (Zikmund et al, 2010) Qualitative Methods

However, this method also has some drawbacks. First of all, it requires the interviewer has enough interviewing techniques. Interviewer can drive the sentiment of interviewee, and maintain a neutral stance. Secondly, this interview has most questions are prepared and not change, so it lacks flexibility. And it is difficult to discuss the issues in depth. Interviewer cannot understand the thoughts of the respondents in detail. Finally, the results of research are easily affected by the personal factors of respondents. In other words, the result will be one-sided, and it cannot reflect most people's views.

• The quantitative procedures utilize excessively couple of variations and offers a mediocre approach, hence contextual considering of subject is absent. Henceforth, they tend to be less suited for sociology contrasted with objective learnings (Barr, 2004).

This research was about testing an existing theory, while qualitative approach is about establishing new theory (Bryman,

The advantages of qualitative research provide information about the human side of an issue that is the often conflicting behaviors, beliefs, opinion, emotions and relationship of individuals. Another advantage is that use of open-ended questions and probing gives, participants the opportunity to respond freely in their own words, rather than forcing them to choose from fixed response. Some qualitative research methods that a researcher uses is the participant observation, complete participation, and in -depth

The social science paradigm also known as Post positivism consists of testing hypothesis and research questions that are developed through reasoning. This is done through measurements and observation. Social scientists aspire to science and they seek to study human behaviour, interaction and thought in an organized way; which we can then measure, generalize and replicate. Like any research, post-positivism needs to be backed up by evidence. When a social science research sets out a research project, it is their goal to find evidence that can either agree or disagree with the hypothesis or theories. Post positivism, compared to positivism allows more interaction with the participants of the research project and seeks to highlight the relationship between universal properties between the variables. The best way to understand post positivism is by comparing it to positivism and the interpretive paradigm. Compared to positivism, post positivism is more tolerant for value-based information, however is not focused on qualitative information like the interpretive paradigm, instead the research is mainly focused on quantitative data.