Positivism, Interpretivism and RVR

What do positivists believe and how do they study?

They believe that we are all incredibly easily influenced by society. They study things on a macroscopic (large) scale, value reliability (can the study be repeated and yield similar results) in their studies and tend to gather quantitative (numbers and statistics) data

What do interpretivists believe and how do they study?

They believe we are not puppets to society and have individual freedom in our behaviours. They study things on a microscopic (small) scale, value validity (does that data reflect reality) in their studies and tend to gather qualitative (lengthy, wody answers) data

What does RVR stand for?

R- Reliability, can the study be repeated and yield similar results
V- Validity, do the results reflect reality
R- Representativeness, does the sample of participants reflect the makeup of wider society

What is triangulation and why do researchers do it?

It is the use of multiple research methods in a single study. We do this as no research method is fully reliable, valid or representative and so the use of multiple methods can fill certain gaps in a study’s RVR.