Statistical positivism versus critical scientific realism. A comparison of two paradigms for motivation research: Part 2. A philosophical and empirical analysis of critical scientific realism

Abstract

In this two-part publication (see Chirkov & Anderson, 2018), we compare two paradigms—statistical positivism and critical scientific realism—in their application to research on academic motivation. In the first part, the propositions of statistical positivism and their applications to psychological research are presented. An empirical study in this part combined self-determination and achievement goal theories and built a statistically integrated model of motivation of 385 college students using path analysis. Part 1 ended with a critical analysis of this statistical model and the knowledge about motivation that it provided. In the second part, the propositions of critical scientific realism are articulated. An empirical study utilizes these propositions and initiates realist interviewing of 12 purposefully selected students. Using within- and between-case analyses, a model of a motivational mechanism of successful university students is proposed. The authors conclude that the continued use of statistical positivism generates minimal new knowledge about the mechanisms of academic motivation. This paradigm should be replaced with the realist one and a case-based methodology, which have a better chance to advance research and improve understanding of academic motivation.