Positivist Philosophy: Distinguished From Other Approaches

Introduction

Research philosophies influence the way researchers undertake their studies, from framing the research’s problem, title selection, to designing the study. Research philosophy is concerned with the values from which decisions are made on the research process about a phenomenon. In a nutshell, research philosophy can be defined as an approach or worldview that governs researchers in the selection of research questions, methods, instruments, sampling strategies, analytic techniques, and other methodological strategies in research. Research philosophy, therefore, emerges as a critical driver in any research project, thus controlling almost all processes and procedures undertaken. Three major research philosophies are often used by researchers, namely, the positivist philosophy, the interpretivist philosophy, and the pragmatist philosophy. In this chapter, the focus is on positivist philosophy and chapter 2 deals with interpretive philosophy. Research philosophy became popular in the 19^th Century when research took a new paradigm, a period when empirical research was liberated from metaphysics, a branch of philosophy which deals with the nature of existence and the world. This is discussed further in the next section on the background.

Research philosophy can be used interchangeably with the term ‘research worldview’ (Guba 1990). The term ‘research paradigm’ coined by Thomas Kuhn, can also be used in place of research philosophy including other terms such as ‘research approaches’.

As noted earlier, the varied research philosophies guide researchers in designing and conducting their studies. There are research questions that may be suitable for a positivist researcher but not for an interpretivist or pragmatist philosopher due to differences in values. The way researchers write their research reports and the language used will also be determined by the chosen research paradigm. When researchers adopt research approaches such as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, it is normally based on their inclinations to preferred research philosophies and the demands of the inquiry. It is therefore mandatory for a researcher to understand the philosophies that govern their research field if they are to effectively apprehend the studied phenomena.

The adoption of a worldview by a researcher will likely depend on several factors, but more importantly, the research problem and the field of study. Researchers who are studying physical sciences are most likely to make use of the positivist paradigm compared to other disciplines. Research supervisors and peers may also influence researchers on the philosophy to adopt. Other factors which may determine the selection of research philosophies could include the researchers’ inclinations, previous studies and demands from the sponsors of the research inquiry (Creswell, 2014). This chapter covers some of the following aspects.

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  Background to Research Philosophies

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  Metaphysics Era Before Positivist Philosophy

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  The Emergence of Positivist Philosophy

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  Gaps in Positivist Philosophy

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  The Emergence of Interpretivist Philosophy

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  The Paradigm Cold War in Research

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  The Emergence of Pragmatist Philosophy

By the end of this chapter, readers should be able to understand the origin of scientific research and the key tenets of positivist philosophy to differentiate between positivism and other research philosophies such as interpretivism and pragmatism. Furthermore, there should be an appreciation of the ‘paradigm cold war’ between the positivists and interpretivism as well as apply these philosophies in research and practice.