Positivism - research-methodology.net

As a philosophy, positivism adheres to the view that only “factual” knowledge gained through observation (the senses), including measurement, is trustworthy. In ... Search Ithastobeacknowledgedthatthepositivismresearchphilosophyisdifficulttobeexplainedinapreciseandsuccinctmanner.Thisisbecausetherearevastdifferencesbetweensettingsinwhichpositivismisusedbyresearchers.Thenumbervariationsinexplainingpositivismmaybeequaltothenumberofauthorswhoaddressedtheareaof researchphilosophy.Nevertheless,initsessence,positivismisbasedontheideathatscienceistheonlywaytolearnaboutthetruth.Thetextbelowexplainspositivismwiththefocusonbusinessstudiesinparticular.  Positivism: Introduction  Asaphilosophy,positivismadherestotheviewthatonly“factual”knowledgegainedthroughobservation (thesenses),includingmeasurement,istrustworthy.Inpositivismstudiestheroleoftheresearcherislimitedto datacollection and interpretation inanobjectiveway.Inthesetypesofstudiesresearchfindingsareusuallyobservableandquantifiable. Positivismdependsonquantifiableobservationsthatleadtostatisticalanalyses. Ithasbeennotedthat“asaphilosophy,positivismisinaccordancewiththeempiricistviewthatknowledgestemsfromhumanexperience.Ithasanatomistic,ontologicalviewoftheworldascomprisingdiscrete,observableelementsandeventsthatinteractinanobservable,determinedandregularmanner”[1]. Moreover,inpositivismstudiestheresearcherisindependentformthestudyandtherearenoprovisionsforhumaninterestswithinthestudy. CrowtherandLancaster(2008)[2] arguethatasageneralrule,positiviststudiesusuallyadopt deductiveapproach,whereas inductiveresearchapproach isusuallyassociatedwitha phenomenologyphilosophy.Moreover,positivismrelatestotheviewpointthatresearcherneedstoconcentrateonfacts,whereasphenomenologyconcentratesonthemeaningandhasprovisionforhumaninterest. Researcherswarnthat“ifyouassumeapositivistapproachtoyourstudy,thenitisyourbeliefthatyouareindependentofyourresearchandyourresearchcanbepurelyobjective.Independentmeansthatyoumaintainminimalinteractionwithyourresearchparticipantswhencarryingoutyourresearch.”[3] Inotherwords,studieswithpositivistparadigmarebasedpurelyonfactsandconsidertheworldtobeexternalandobjective. Thefivemainprinciplesofpositivismresearchphilosophycanbesummarizedasthefollowing: Therearenodifferencesinthelogicofinquiryacrosssciences. Theresearchshouldaimtoexplainandpredict. Researchshouldbeempiricallyobservableviahumansenses.Inductivereasoningshouldbeusedtodevelopstatements(hypotheses)tobetestedduringtheresearchprocess. Scienceisnotthesameasthecommonsense.Thecommonsenseshouldnotbeallowedtobiastheresearchfindings. Sciencemustbevalue-freeanditshouldbejudgedonlybylogic. Thefollowingareafewexamplesforstudiesthatadheretopositivismresearchphilosophy: Astudyintotheimpactoftheglobaleconomiccrisisof2007–2009onthebrandequityofUS-basedlistedcompanies AnanalysisofeffectsofforeigndirectinvestmentonGDPgrowthinVietnam Astudyofrelationshipbetweendiffusionofinnovationofmobileapplicationsandsaturationofapplicationsinacountry Thefollowingtableillustratesontology,epistemology,axiologyandtypicalresearchmethodsassociatedwithpositivismresearchphilosophy: Ontology Epistemology Axiology Typicalmethods Real,external,independent   Onetruereality (universalism)   Granular(things)   Ordered Scientificmethod Observableandmeasurablefacts   Law-likegeneralizations Numbers   Causalexplanationandpredictionascontributon Value-freeresearch   Researcherisdetached,neutralandindependentofwhatisresearched   Researchermaintainsobjectivestance Typicallydeductive,highlystructured,largesamples,measurement,typicallyquantitativemethodofanalysis,butarangeofdatacanbeanalysed Ontology,epistemology,axiologyandtypicalresearchmethodsassociatedwithpositivismresearchphilosophy ScienceasanUnderlyingGroundforPositivism Positivismofteninvolvestheuseofexistingtheorytodevelophypothesestobetestedduringtheresearchprocess.Sciencecanbespecifiedasacornerstoneinpositivismresearchphilosophy. Specifically,positivism reliesonthefollowingaspectsofthescience. 1.Scienceisdeterministic.ScientificapproachisbasedonassumptionthatXcausesYundercertaincircumstances.Theroleofresearcherwhenfollowingthescientificapproachistodiscoverspecificnatureofcauseandeffectrelationships. 2.Scienceismechanistic.Mechanicalnatureofscientificapproachcanbeexplainedinawaythatresearchersdevelophypothesestobeprovedordisprovedviaapplicationofspecificresearchmethods.Thisleadstothefactthat 3.Scienceusesmethod.Chosenmethodsareappliedmechanicallyinordertooperationalizetheoryorhypothesis.Applicationofmethodologyinvolvesselectionofsample,measurements,analysisandreachingconclusionsabouthypotheses. 4.Sciencedealswithempiricism.Inotherwords,scienceonlydealswithwhatcanbeseenormeasured.Fromthisperspective,sciencecanbeassessedas objective. DifferencesbetweenPositivismandInterpretivism Thekeyfeaturesofpositivismandsocialconstructionismphilosophicalapproachesarepresentedin thefollowingtablebyRamanathan(2008)[4]. Positivism SocialConstructionism Theobserver Mustbeindependent Ispartofwhatisbeingobserved Humaninterests Shouldbeirrelevant Arethemaindriversofscience Explanations Mustdemonstratecausality Aimtoincreasegeneralunderstandingofthesituation Research  progressesthrough Hypotheses and deductions Gatherrichdatafromwhichideasareinduced Concepts Needtobeoperationalisedsothattheycanbemeasured Should incorporatestakeholderperspectives Unitsofanalysis Shouldbereducedtosimplestterms Mayincludethecomplexityof‘whole’situations Generalisationthrough Statisticalprobability Theoretical abstraction Samplingrequires Largenumbersselectedrandomly Smallnumbersofcaseschosenforspecificreasons Differencesbetweenpositivismandsocialconstructionism Alternatively,thedifferencesbetweenpositivistand phenomenology paradigmsarebestillustratedbyEasterby-Smithetal.(2008)[5] inthefollowingmanner: PositivistParadigm Phenomenologyparadigm     Basicnotions   Theworldisperceivedasexternalandobjective Independencyoftheobserver Value-freeapproachtoscience Theworldisperceivedtobesociallyconstructedandsubjective Observerisconsideredapartoftheobjectofobservation Humaninterestsdrivesscience     Responsibilitiesofresearcher   Focusingonfacts Causalitiesandfundamentallawsaresearched Phenomenonarereducedtothesimplestelements Hypothesesformulationandtestingthem Tobefocusingonmeanings Aimingtounderstandthemeaningofevents Exploringthetotalityofeachindividualcase Ideasaredevelopedbyinductionfromdata Mostsuitableresearchmethods Conceptshavetobeoperationalized Usingseveralmethodsinordertodifferentaspectsofphenomena Sampling Sampleshavetobelarge Smallsamplesareanalyzedinagreaterdepthoroverlongerperiodoftime Positivistandphenomenologyparadigms   ShortcomingsofPositivism Positivismasanepistemologyisassociatedwiththefollowingsetofdisadvantages: Firstly,positivismreliesonexperienceasavalidsourceofknowledge.However,awiderangeofbasicandimportantconceptssuchascause,timeandspacearenotbasedonexperience. Secondly,positivismassumesthatalltypesofprocessescanbeperceivedasacertainvariationofactionsofindividualsorrelationshipsbetweenindividuals. Thirdly,adoptionofpositivisminbusinessstudiesandotherstudiescanbecriticizedforrelianceonstatusquo.Inotherwords,researchfindingsinpositivismstudiesareonlydescriptive,thustheylackinsightintoin-depthissues. Mye-book, TheUltimateGuidetoWritingaDissertationinBusinessStudies:astepbystepassistancecontainsdiscussionsoftheoryandapplicationofresearchphilosophy.Thee-bookalsoexplainsallstagesofthe researchprocess startingfromthe selectionoftheresearcharea towritingpersonalreflection.Importantelementsofdissertationssuchas researchphilosophy, researchapproach, researchdesign, methodsofdatacollection and dataanalysis areexplainedinthise-bookinsimplewords. JohnDudovskiy [1]Collins,H.(2010)“CreativeResearch:TheTheoryandPracticeofResearchfortheCreativeIndustries”AVAPublications,p.38 [2]Crowther,D.&Lancaster,G.(2008)“ResearchMethods:AConciseIntroductiontoResearchinManagementandBusinessConsultancy”Butterworth-Heinemann [3]Wilson,J.(2010)“EssentialsofBusinessResearch:AGuidetoDoingYourResearchProject”SAGEPublications [4]Ramanathan,R.(2008)“TheRoleofOrganisationalChangeManagementinOffshoreOutsourcingofInformationTechnologyServices”UniversalPublishers [5]Easterby-Smith,M,Thorpe,R.&Jackson,P.(2008)“ManagementResearch”3rded,SAGEPublicationsLtd.,London []