Download Positivist, Interpretivist and Post-modern approaches

Positivist, Interpretivist
and Post-modern
approaches
We know that Sociologists study societies, but
HOW do they study them?
A. Positivism
(Positivist)
• Auguste Comte created and loves positivism
• One should study sociology in the same way that
one studies the natural world, using the scientific
method.
• PHEOC
Scientific Research
(page 12)
1.
1. Empirical: uses observation and experience, not just logic
2.
2. Theoretical: create theories from observations
3.
3. Cumulative: build on existing theories
4.
4. Ethical:
1.
2.
3.
Communal: share the results
Non-biased: objective
Skeptical: open to criticism
5.
5. Systematic: follows steps
6.
6. Reliable: can be repeated by someone else and get the same
7.
8.
results
7: Valid: measures what it is supposed to measure
B. Interpretivism
(Interpretivist)
• Anti-positivism
• Different people in different situations will interpret
what is happening different ways.
• Researchers should experience the world the way the
person they are studying experiences the world
• Empathy: sharing another’s feelings, living life “in
their shoes”
Differences between Positivism
and Interpretivism
Positivism
Interpretivism
• - Study from without
• - Study from within
• - Quantitative
• - Qualitative
• - Objective
• - Subjective
• What is one strength and
one weakness of positivism?
• What is one strength and
one weakness of
interpretivism?
• Approaches to research:
• A. Positivism
• B. Interpretivism
• C. Post-modernist
• Theories about how to think about society:
• A. Structuralism
• B. Interpretivism
• C. Functionalism
• D. Marxism
• E. Feminism
Consider this…
• Macro (p. 7)
• Micro (p. 7)
• Conflict (p. 9)
• Consensus (p. 9)
Structuralism (p. 7)
• - Durkheim
• - Society exists separate from individuals.
• - People fill in the roles of the society.
• Example: US government vs. Indonesian government
• - Durkheim’s famous example: suicide
Interpretivism (p. 8)
• - People create the societies
that they live in.
• - Individuals create their
own identities.
• - See page 9
Functionalism (p.10)
• - Every part of society has a function to fill.
• - Doctors
• - Prison?
Marxism (p. 10)
• - Also called Conflict Theory
• - Classes are in conflict
• - Proletariat
• - Bourgeoisie
Feminism (p. 11)
Post-modernism (1970s-present)
(Post-modernist)
• A sociological research
method that studies how
people create narratives
(stories) and how people
understand the world
around them.
• Collect narratives, not
data.
• The narratives are not
true or false. They are.
• Not rational, not
empirical. Not antiscience either, though
Recap
• Positivism: A sociological research method that uses the
scientific method to produce objective, quantitative
results.
• Interpretivism: A sociological research method that
requires the researcher to subjectively understand how
people interpret/experience situations. The researcher
becomes part of the study and produces qualitative results.
• Post-modernism: A sociological research method that
studies how people create narratives (stories) and how
people understand the world around them. Non-scientific
Discussion Questions
•
Which of the approaches (positivism, interpretivism, post-modernism)
would you use to study the following?
•
1. I want to understand how it feels to live in a slum.
•
2. I want to learn who is happier, Javanese people or Madurese people.
•
3. I want to hear the stories of WWII survivors and how their experience
in concentration camps affected their belief in God.
•
4. You want to learn about smoking. How would each of the approaches
(positivism, interpretivism, post-modernism) learn about smoking?
•
5. You want to learn about people’s first dates.
•
6. Which of the Sociologists would be positivists? Interpretivists? Postmodernists? Neither?