In research writing, students choose different philosophical lenses that form their worldview and how they interpret reality from the existing knowledge. Positivism and post-positivism are two distinctive philosophical beliefs that shape researchers’ approach to knowledge, evidence, and research methodology, offering unique perspectives to achieve the desired outcomes.
Positivism focuses on observable and measurable data that can be turned into reality, treating the researcher as a natural observer or an objective analyst. Post-positivism acknowledges that absolute objectivity is hard to achieve, and our values and biases influence what we observe.
What is Positivism in Research Writing?
Positivism was very dominant in early 19th-century educational and psychological research. It’s influenced by the rational and empiricist ‘positive’ philosophies of philosophers like Auguste Comte, Immanuel Kant, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, and John Locke.
However, much of positivism is credited back to Comte, who, in 1824, wrote, “I believe that I shall succeed in having it recognised… that there are laws as well-defined for the development of the human species as for the fall of a stone.”
In Comte’s view, the ‘positive’ stage of human knowledge is reached when everyone starts to rely on empirical data, logic, reason, and scientific laws to explain things happening around them. The scientific method, according to positivists, is the “surest way to produce effective knowledge,” as Frankel writes.
What are the Underlying Beliefs of Positivism?
- The social world—the world containing human behaviour, emotions, cultures, etc.—can be studied in the same way as the natural world—the world consisting of animals, plants, diseases, etc.
- The social world can be studied in terms of a cause-and-effect relationship, rather than a value system where one thought, culture, language, or anything else is considered superior to another. The cause-and-effect relationship is more rationalistic and objective than the subjective value system. And everyone knows how science prefers objectivity over subjectivity.
- Using the scientific method—which consists of hypotheses, experimentation, theories, and laws, etc.—allows accurate measurement of what can be observed. This measurement can then be used to create laws that describe constant, recurring relationships between different types of variables in the world.
Positivists believe that “scientific knowledge is utterly objective and that only scientific knowledge is valid, certain and accurate” (Crotty, 1998, p. 29).
Criticism of Positivism
Just like everything else, this objective, scientific method has its drawbacks too. It cannot be applied to study something like human behaviour, something that contains abstractions like happiness, anger, etc. Such abstractions cannot be measured, like, for instance, the weather can be measured using a barometer.
But the amount of anxiety can’t be measured using any scale. This is where the need for post-positivism comes in to help students deal with qualitative research studies as well, and get the required results.
What are the Philosophical Assumptions of Positivism?
| Philosophical Assumption | Positivism |
|---|---|
| Axiology (nature of research ethics) | Privacy can be overlooked for the sake of meeting research goals; informed consent from research participants isn’t that important if the stakes are too high; harming a few to save many is okay; equal opportunities for everyone involved cannot always be provided. |
| Ontology (nature of reality) | There is only one reality out there; all of it is knowable and measurable in some way. |
| Epistemology (nature of knowledge and the relation between the knower and the known) | Objectivity over subjectivity; the researcher should observe in a non-emotional, objective way; knowledge is independent of the knower. |
| Methodology (nature of enquiry) | Quantitative/mixed-methods |
What is Post-Positivism in Research Writing?
By the mid-20th century, research scholars and philosophers in education, psychology, and the social sciences began to question. The rigid objective approach of positivism that presents the view that reality can be measured and explained through universal laws, and a subjective lens as well.
Philosophers such as Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn greatly influenced the post-positivist ideology. Karl Popper argued that scientific theories can never be proven true and can only be falsified through testing and better explanations.
Kuhn presented the view that scientific knowledge is shaped by perspectives that can be influenced by external factors and even inner biases of the author, such as perception bias. Post-positivists focus on probabilistic knowledge and conclusions that are reliable and open to revision.
What are the Underlying Beliefs of Post-Positivism?
These two beliefs—observable and generalizable phenomenon—came to be highly criticised and rejected by post-positivists, for they believed that:
- When it comes to social sciences and studying social behaviour, the same things like meaning, absolute truth, or laws can’t exist as rigidly as they exist in the natural world. For instance, Foucault argues that all the knowledge and truth in the world are products of power, history, relationships, etc., and therefore, can’t be discovered or measured like positivists believe.
- All naturally present languages—such as art or some other non-mathematical language—contain unclear terms that tend to change over time due to the impact of human actions and interventions. As such, these languages can’t be measured like the amount of stress among the public can’t be measured.
Post-positivism, therefore, has had a great impact on educational research. For it answers such abstract questions that positivism can’t. In other words, post-positivism starts where positivism ends.
Criticism of Post-Positivism
The main drawback of post-positivism is that many terms, concepts, and ideas are expressed in vague, complicated, highly philosophical language. Not everyone might always understand such language. Contrary to this, the standard language and figures, etc, used in scientific research of positivism are generalised so that everyone, everywhere, can understand it.
What are the Philosophical Assumptions of Post-Positivism?
| Philosophical Assumption | Positivism |
|---|---|
| Axiology (nature of research ethics) | Privacy can be overlooked for the sake of meeting research goals; informed consent from research participants isn’t that important if the stakes are too high; harming a few to save many is okay; equal opportunities for everyone involved cannot always be provided. |
| Ontology (nature of reality) | There is only one reality out there; all of it is knowable and measurable in some way. |
| Epistemology (nature of knowledge and the relation between the knower and the known) | Objectivity over subjectivity; the researcher should observe in a non-emotional, objective way; knowledge is independent of the knower. |
| Methodology (nature of enquiry) | Quantitative/mixed-methods |
Key Difference Between Positivism and Post-Positivism
| Aspect | Positivism | Post-Positivism |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophical View of Reality (Ontology) | Reality is objective and can be observed directly. | Reality is subjective and can be understood imperfectly due to human biases involved. |
| Knowledge Claim (Epistemology) | Knowledge is definite. | Knowledge is probabilistic and can be changed. |
| Researcher’s Role | To remain a neutral observer and not influence research. | Try to remain as neutral as possible because their personal perspective influences research. |
| Approach to Truth | Always prefer verifiable and measurable truth. | Accepts multiple perspectives, and the truth is approximate and primarily contextual. |
| Research Methodology | Prefers only quantitative research method. | Favours mixed methods of research, including qualitative and quantitative. |
| Research Aim | To discover universal laws. | To explain, interpret, and refine understandings. |
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Positivism and Post-Positivism in Dissertation Writing
Positivism and Post Positivism are the major research paradigms that will specify the methods you need in your dissertation writing. This simple concept can be better understood from the following illustration:
Both these ideas, coupled with the research paradigms, are approaches to conducting research. Use of one over the other needs to be justified within your dissertation, just as the rest of your methodological choices must be.
Conclusion
Positivism and post-positivism are both very important philosophical approaches and research paradigms. They have their underlying philosophical assumptions, i.e., axiological, epistemological, ontological, and methodological beliefs. Positivism deals with objectivity in scientific research and directly observes elements that can be measured..
Contrary to this, post-positivism believes that not everything can be observed directly, such as human behaviour. However, it doesn’t deny the possibility of measuring such abstract concepts either.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are important because they work as a guiding light for the researchers and help them view reality, collect data, and interpret results. If you have selected the right research paradigm, then your methodology will be consistent and in alignment with your study’s aims.
Positivism mainly aligns with quantitative methods, focusing on objective measurement of elements and statistical analysis to produce quantifiable or verifiable data. On the other hand, post positivism uses both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and triangulation to acknowledge the researcher’s bias and give credible findings.
Post-positivism is best for mixed methods research because it values quantitative and qualitative research approaches, acknowledges research bias, and uses triangulation to improve validity and depth of findings.
