Human Science Research: A Matter of Quality

Abstract

This article encourages debate about the most appropriate use of what is often termed “qualitative” research as distinct from “quantitative” research. Qualitative research refers to the constructivist paradigm of theory generation within the context of human inquiry. In this article, “constructivist” refers to gaining an in-depth understanding of how people construe their world and how they make sense of their experiences. Moustakas (1994) writes of “human science” research to describe those methodologies that have certain fundamental principles in common when studying the psychology of the self and psychosocial aspects of the human condition, its development, and relationships. Some of these fundamental principles will be discussed in this article. Quantitative research supports a positivistic stance, which in its most extreme form means that what we cannot see or experience with our five senses does not exist. Attached to this is the belief that there is a “truth” out there waiting to be found, and only empirical data is of scientific value for discovering this “truth.” The author's assertion is that while the positivistic approach has value within the science of nature, it has little to offer in human science research. This article will address broad issues related to research rather than the details of specific methodologies.