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What is interpretivism?
The methodological approach is based on understanding the interpretations and meanings people give to actions
Interpretivists focus on trying to gain an insight into the experiences of individuals and groups
Researchers need to develop empathy with their subjects- Verstehen
Verstehen
The concept that researchers need to develop empathy with their subjects in interpretivism.
What are the key ideas of interpretivism?
Society is constructed of individuals who have free will
Looks at individual meanings- micro sociology
Looks to obtain qualitative data and is more subjective
Individuals are unique in their interpretations of events and cannot be studied scientifically
What are the interpretive methods?
Observations
Participant
Non-participant
Secondary sources
Personal documents, historical documents, journals, diaries, media reports
Surveys
Open questionnaires
Unstructured interviews
What are the strengths of interpretivism?
Higher in validity than positivist methods as they uncover meanings and motivations of people’s actions
Produce qualitative data which reveals hidden meanings
Championing the ‘underdog’ in society, giving a voice to those unheard
Gains an insight into hard-to-reach groups
What are the limitations of interpretivist methods?
Difficult to replicate methods: loses reliability
Can be overly influenced by the researcher’s interpretations of actions: lacks objectivity
The small-scale nature of methods means unable to generalise to the wider population
Seen as unscientific: difficult to falsify the conclusions of research
What are the examples of interpretivist research?
Willis- Learning to Labour
Interpretivist methodology to investigate working-class boys’ experiences of school
Jock Young:
Research into marijuana users in Notting Hill
Pupil and Teacher interactions:
Fuller, Mac an Ghail, Archer and others used the interpretivist method
Note 
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