Positivism

What is positivism?

• Approach to researching sociology that relies upon the study of social facts in a systematic and scientific way

• Positivists suggest that we can only observe the behaviours and actions of people scientifically

• Social facts can be measured and quantified objectively- this allows other researchers to replicate research to check findings

What are the key ideas of positivism?

• Structural forces shape the behaviour of individuals

• Looks at the bigger picture- a macro perspective

• Looks to obtain objective and quantitative data

• Society can be studied scientifically in the same way as the natural sciences

What are the positivist methods?

• Experiments

  • Laboratory or controlled

  • Field

• Comparative method

  • Comparing official statistics across time, location, social groups

• Surveys

  • Closed questionnaires

  • Structured interviews

• Non-participant observations

What are the strengths of positivist methods?

• Can demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships or correlations between events

• Produce quantitative data which is seen as more objective and scientific

• Prefered by governments to advise on social policy as macro-scale allows for generalisations of different groups

• Reliability: Can be replicated and results checked- falsification principle

What are the limitations of positivist methods?

• Can lack validity- might demonstrate trends but not explain why

• Neglects the actions of individuals- focused on structural forces rather than the agency of individuals

• Too fixed- may not reflect the fluidity and diversity in contemporary society

• Does not gain an insight into the lives of individuals- focuses on what they do, not why they do it

What are the examples of positivist research?

• Durkheim- suicide

  • The comparative method used to observe social facts (causes) behind differences in suicide rates across European countries

• Crime and education statistics

  • Rates of offending, educational achievement by social groups

• Social attitude surveys

  • Domestic division of labour, consumer habits, media usage