Positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods - Theory and Methods topic 1

Specification

• the relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’

Lets get thinking with an activity.

Each member of the class will come to the board and together we will collect one quantitative data in graph form. Each member will draw a block over the month of their birthday. I will get us started. It will eventually look like the graph below and in the end we will have a 2 axis graph showing us quantitative data related to the what month each member of the class was born. 

It will look something like the graph below

Lets follow this link to find some more interesting statistics - https://bestlifeonline.com/crazy-statistics/

The main sociological research methods stem from two opposing theoretical approaches to the study of society. These approaches are called positivism and interpretivism.

Both approaches use different methods of studying society and carrying out research. As a result they use different research methods and for A Level Sociology we need to know what research methods they use and why.

Positivism and Research Methods

Positivists believe that just like in the natural world, there are external social forces, made up of society's social institutions that mould and direct people's behaviour. Example, in the natural world, rain and sunlight causes grass to grow - in the social world this could translate to -  low income and poor education leads to crime/drug addiction, homelessness, etc.

The most famous Positivist called these external forces social facts.

Positivist sociologist Emile Durkheim claimed that the aim of Sociology should be to study these social facts which could be considered the same as things in the natural world. He claimed that these things could be observed and measured quantitatively (numbers/statistics). The feelings and emotions of people cannot be observed or measured scientifically and therefore should not be studied.

Positivists look at the bigger picture of society rather than small scale interactions. This is known as taking a Macro approach to studying society - macro means large-scale or overall.

Examples of positivist research can include looking at whether people in different social classes achieve different exam results in education. This can be done statistically by monitoring exam results based on location and parental income across UK.

Positivists prefer to use research methods that can help them gather quantitative data in their study of society and these can include

- experiments (lab or controlled, or field)

- comparative method - comparing official statistics across time, location, social groups, etc

- surveys

- non-participant observation

- structured interviews

- structured questionnaires

Quantitative research is preferred by governments and politicians as is used to advise social polices. The marco and statistical elements of the results allow for generalisations to be made of different groups. The statistics can also show trends across countries and highlight problems that may need addressed.

Activity

Let's look up some statistics. 

Go to google and type in crime statistics for your area, e.g. London, Northern Ireland, etc. Go to images where you see graphs, maps and table showing crime rates. Click on the image and it will take you to a page where you will find more information. What did you find?

Here is an example of official statistics. It represents the number of police recorded robberies from 2003 -2015. Positivists would use the comparative method to analyse this table. What conclusions could be made from these statistics?

One of the best examples of quantitative data in real world was the collection of the number of daily covid infections. This figure was then used to measure the extent of the infection across the population and then for government to act on the data. However this was scientific data as people's tests were being sent to labs, recorded, and then results uploaded to a government site to give an overall macro picture.

To conclude - positivists prefer to use research methods such as surveys that can provide quantitative data to reflect trends and behaviour in society. 

Interpretivism and research methods

In total contrast to positivism, interpretivists believe that people's behaviour is influenced by the meanings and interpretations they give to situations. They believe it is the researchers job to better understand these meanings and motives. Sociologists should try to understand the people they are studying and try to gain an understand from their point of view. Famous interpretivist Max Weber called this process "Versethen". 

Instead of collecting statistical information, interpretivists prefer research methods that allow them to get personal with the people they are studying to gain empathy and a better understanding from their perspective. This results in the collection of qualitative data which consists of words which gives a deeper insight into feelings, emotions and attitudes. It allows research participants to explain things in detail and not be reduced to a number/statistic. Interpretivism is also seen as a micro approach to studying society because it looks at small scale interactions in depth rather than high surveys, etc. The studies often include a much smaller selection of people. 

Research methods that interpretivists prefer include;

- personal accounts, diaries, letters

- open-ended questionnaires

- unstructured interviews

- participant observation 

Sample exam questions

1. Evaluate the different approaches to sociological research used by positivists and interpretivists.

2. Here is a question from 2020 paper;

Outline and explain two problems of using primary qualitative methods in sociological

research. (10 marks)