Positivism and Interpretivism

Abstract

Positivism is a research approach based on ontological principles that there is an objective reality which is free and independent of viewer and waiting to be discovered. Auguste Comte, a French philosopher from 19th century is credited for being the one who introduced the philosophy of Positivism as it stands today. Since then, positivism as a research approach has gone through different stages of evolution but Comte influence still remains dominant. Positivism tries desperately to fill the gap between natural and social sciences. Despite being an innovative and healthy concept in social research, positivism is subject to harsh criticism since its birth. There is a fundamental flaw in the assumption that positivism makes about scientific enquiry in social sciences. When positivism met criticism, Interpretivism popped up its head though it had been in use for quite a while. It is a research methods that argues that people�s knowledge or understanding of reality is a social construction. In other words, it is meant that there is no objective reality or truth in social world. The entire debate between the two schools of thought revolves around the nature of reality and how it is to be discovered. If one is subjective, the other is objective in its approach to reality.