‘Aarhus School of Business ASB Library University of Aarhus ‘Scanned article Neuman, Lawrence W. (2006), Chapter 4 (part of chapter 4): The meanings of methodology (positivist social science) In: Neuman, Lawrence W..: Social research methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches, 6th ed., pp. 81-87. Pearson. 5722_Neuman pdf Copyright permission is given by Copy-Dan with reference to agreement of February 2004 between Copy-Dan and The Library of the Aarhus Schoo! of Business. The volume of this article is in accordance with the instructions in the agreement. Redistribution ofthis article to third party is not permitted.CHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY 81 CHART 4.1 Ten Questions |. Whats the uitimate purpose of conducting social scientific research? What is the fundamental nature of socal reality? ‘What is the basic nature of human beings? 4, What is the view on human agency tree wil, volition, and rationality? 5, What isthe relationship between science and, ‘common sense? 66. What constitutes an explanation or theory of social reality? 7. How does one determine whether an explanation is true o false? 18, What does good evidence or factual information look like? 9. Whats the relevance or use of socal scientific knowledge? 10, Where do sociopolitical values enter into science? ‘Tosimplify the discussion, [have organized the assumptions and ideas of the approaches into an- swers to ten questions (see Chart 4.1), The three approaches are positivist social sei- cence, interpretive social science, and critical social science, Most ongoing social research is based on the first two, Positivism is the oldest and the most widely used approach. The interpretive approach has held a strong minority position in debates for overa ‘century. Critical social science is less commonly seen in scholarly journals, Itis included to show the Jullrange of debate and because it criticizes the other approaches and tries to move beyond them, Each approach is associated with different tra- litions in social theory and diverse research tech- niques. The linkage among the broad approaches to science, social theories, and research techniques is. not strict. The approaches are similar toa research program, research tradition, o scientific paradigm. A paradigm, an idea made famous by Thomas ‘Kuhn (1970), means a basic orientation to theory and research, There are many definitions of para digm. In general, a scientific paradigm is a whole system of thinking. I includes basie assumptions, the important questions fo be answered or puzzles tobe solved the research techniques tobe used, and examples of what good scientific research looks like. Sociology is called a multiparadigm science because no single paradigm is all-powerful: instead, several compete with each other POSITIVIST SOCIAL SCIENCE Positivist social science (PSS) is used widely. and positivism, broadly defined, is the approach of the natural sciences. In fact, most people assume that the positivist approach is science. There are many versions of positivism, and it has a long history within the philosophy of science and among re- searchers.* Ye, for many researchers, it has come to be a pejorative label to be avoided. Turner (1992:1511) observed, “Positivism no longer has a clear referent, but it is evident that, for many, being positivist is nota good thing.” Varieties of PSS g0 by names such as logical empiricism, the accepted ‘or conventional view, postpositivism, naturalism, the covering law model, and behaviorism, Positivism arose from a nineteenth-century school of thought by the Frenchman who founded sociology —Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Comte’s major work in six volumes, Cours de Philosophie Positivistic (The Course of Positive Philosophy) (1830-1842), outlined many principles oF positivism still used today. British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) elaborated and modified the principles imhis A System of Logic (1843). Classical French so- ciologist mile Durkheim (1858-1917) outlined a version of positivism in his Rules of the Sociologi- eal Method (1895), which became a key textbook for positivist social researchers, Paradigm A general organizing framework fr the- ‘ory and research that incues basic assumptions, key issues, models of quality research, and methods for Seeking answers. Positvist socal sclence One of three major ap- proaches to social research that emphasizes discover- ing causal laws, careful empirical observations, and value-free research82 PARTONE / FOUNDATIONS Positivism is associated with many specific social theories. Best known is its linkage to the structural-functional, rational choice, and exchange-theory frameworks. PSS researchers pre- fer precise quantitative data and offen use experi iments, surveys, and statistics. They seek rigorous, exact measures and “objective” research, and they test hypotheses by carefully analyzing numbers from the measures. Many applied researchers (ad rministratos, criminologists, market researchers, policy analysts, program evaluators, and planners) embrace positivism. Crities charge that PSS reduces people to numbers and that its concerns with ab- stract formulas are not relevant tothe actual lives of real people. PSS dominated the articles of major sociology journals in Britain, Canada, Scandinavia, and the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980 and 1990s, it had declined sharply in Euro- pean journals but the approach remained in postion of dominance in North American journals.” According to positivism, “there is only one logic of science, to which any intellectual activity aspiring tothe tile of ‘science” must conform” (Keat and Urry, 1975:25, emphasis in original). Thus, the social sciences and the natural sciences use the same method. Io this view, differences between the socal and natural sciences are due tothe immaturity or youth of the socialsciences and their subject matter. Eventually all science, including the socialsciences, will eventually become like the most advanced sci- ence, physies. Differences among the sciences may exist sto their subject matter (e.g, geology requires techniques different from astrophysics or micro- biology because of the objects being studied), butall ences share a common set of principles and logic. Positvist social science san organized method {for combining deductive logic with precise empiri- cal observations of individual behavior in onter to (Causallaws General cause-effect rules that are used in causal explanations of soca theory and wiose as ‘covery isa primary objective of positivist socal science. Essentialit orientation An orientation toward socal realty that assumes people experience empirical con sitions directly and the experiences reflect the esence of realiy discover and confirm a set of probabilistic causal laws that can be used to predict general patterns of Juman activity. The Questions 1. What is the ultimate purvose of social scien- tific research? ‘The ultimate purpose of research is scientific cexplanation—to discover anc document universal ‘causal laws of human behavior. Turner (1985:39), defender of the positivist approach, stated that the “social universe is amenable to the development of abstract laws that can be tested through the careful collection of data” and that researchers need to "de- velop abstract principles and models about invari- ant and timeless properties ofthe social universe.” Positivists say that scientists are engaged in a never-ending quest for knowledge. As more is learned, new complexities are discovered and there is still more to learn, Early versions of PSS main- tained that humans can never know everything because only God possesses sich knowledge; how- ever, as creatures placed on this planet with great capacity for knowledge, humans have a duty to dis cover as much as they can, 2. What is the fundamental nature of social reality? “Modem positivsts adoptan essentialist orien- tation to realty: Reality is rea: it exists “out there” and is waiting to be discovered. Human perception and intellect may be flawed. and reality may be dif- ficutto pin down, butit oes exit. Moreover, socal realty isnot random: iis patemned and has order. Without this assumption (i. i the world were chaotic and without regularity), logic and prediction ‘would be impossible. Science lets humans discover this onder and the laws of nature. “The basic. obser- ‘ational laws of science are considered to be tue, pri- ‘mary and certain, because they ae built nt the fabric of the natural world. Discovering a law is like dis- covering America in the sense that both are aeady ‘waiting tobe revealed” (Mula, 1979:21). Essentalist (also called objectvist) assump- tions are built nto commonsense thinking prevalent in Anglo-European societies. An essentialist posi- tion states that what peopl see and touch (i.e, emCHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY 83. pirical reality) is not overly complex. Itreflects the ‘deeper essence of things, people, and relations in the world. Iis a “what you see is what you get” or “show me” type of stance. Things are the way they are by nature, or created out ofa natural order of the world. Thus, race, gender, and measurements of space and time just “are.” This has many implica- tions. For example, men commit more erime than women because of something to do with their smaleness." An essentialist assumption about time is tha it is Finear or flows in a straight tine. This ‘means that what happened in the pas will not be di- rectly repeated, because time moves in only one direction—forward to the future. “Two other PSS assumptions are that basic pat- tems of social reality are stable and knowledge of themis additive. Te regularity in social reality does, not change overtime, and laws discovered today ‘will hold inthe future. We can study many parts of reality one at time, then add the fragments together to getapicture ofthe whole. Some early versions of {his assumption said that the orderin nature was ere- ated by and is evidence ofthe existence of God ora supreme being 3. Whar is the basic nature of human beings? Humans are assumed to be self-interested, pleasure-seeking, rational mammals. A cause will have the same effect on everyone. We can learn about people by observing their behavior, what we see in external reality. This is more important than ‘what happens in internal, subjective reality. Some~ times, this is called a mechanical model of man or a behaviorist approach. It means people respond to external forces that are as real as physical forces on objects. Durkheim (1938:27) stated, "Social phe- nomena are things and ought to be studied as things." This emphasis on observable, external re- ality suggests that researchers may not have to ex amine unseen, intemal motivations. 4, What is the view on human agency (free will, volition, and rationality)? PSS emphasizes deterministic relationships ‘and looks for determining causes or mechanisms that produce effects. PSS looks at how external forces, pressures, and structures that operate on individuals, ‘groups, organizations, or societies produce out- comes (eg. behaviors attitudes, and so forth). PSS downplays an individual's subjective or internal rea- sons and any sense of free choice or volition. Men- tal processes are fess central than the structural forces ‘or conditions beyond individual control that exert in- fluence over choices and behavior. While individual people may fel that they can act freely and can make ny decisions, positivsts emphasize the powerful so- cial pressures and situations that operate on people to shape most if not all of ther actions. Even posi- tivists who use rational choice explanations focus less on how individuals reason and make choices, than on identifying sets of conditions that allow them topredict what people will choose. They assume that ‘once they know extemal factors, individual reason- ing will largely follows a machinelike rational logic of decision making Few positvists believe in absolute determi ‘sm, wherein people are mere robots or puppets who ‘must always respond exactly the same. Rather, the causal laws are probabilistic. Laws hold for large groups of people or occur in many situations. Re- searchers can estimate the odds of a predicted be- havior. In other words, the laws enable us to make accurate predictions of how often a social behavior will occur within a large group. The causal laws can- not predict the specific behavior of a specific person ineach situation, However, they can say that under conditions X, ¥ and Z, there is a 95 percent proba- bility that one-half of the people will engage in @ specified behavior. For example, researchers can- not predict how John Smith will vote in the next election. However, after learning dozens of facts about John Smith and using laws of political be- havior, researchers can accurately state that there is ‘an 85 percent chance that he (and people like him) will vote for candidate C. This does not mean that ‘Mechanical model of man A model of human na- ture used in positivist social science stating that ob- serving people's external behaviors and documenting ‘outside forces acting on them aresuifcient to provide adequate explanations of human thought and action. Determinism An approach to human agency and ‘causality that assumes human actions are largely ‘caused by forces external to individuals that can be Identified,84 PARTONE / FOUNDATIONS Mr, Smith cannot vote for whomever he wants Rather, his voting behavior is patterned and shaped by outside social forces. 5. Whar is the relationship between science and ‘common sense? PSS sees a clear separation between science ‘and nonscience, Of the many ways to seek truth, sei- ‘ence is special —the “best” way. Scientific know!- ‘edge is better than and will eventually replace the inferior ways of gaining knowledge (e-g., magic, re- ligion, astrology, personal experience, and tradi- tion), Science borraws some ideas from common sense, but i replaces the parts of common sense that are sloppy, logically inconsistent, unsystemati, and full ofbias. The scientific community—with its spe- cial norms, scientific attitudes, and techniques—can regularly produce “Truth,” whereas common sense does so only rarely and inconsistently. Many positivist researchers create a whole new vocabulary that is more logically consistent and eare- fully thought out and refined than terms for ideas found in everyday common sense. The positivist re- searcher “should formulate new concepts at the out- set and not rely on lay notions... There is a preference forthe precision which i believed possi- ble in a discipline-based language rather than the vague and imprecise language of everyday life’ (Blaikie, 1993:206). In his Rules of the Sociological ‘Method, Durkheim warned the researcher (0 “res- ‘olutely deny himself the use of those concepts Formed. ‘outside of science” and to “free himself from those fallacious notions which hold sway over the mind of the ordinary person” (quoted in Gilbert, 1992:4), 6. What constitutes an explanation or theory of ‘social reality? PSS explanation is nomothetic (nomos means law in Greek); itis based on a system of general Nomothetic A typeof explanation used in positivist socal science in which the explanation relies heavily on ‘causal laws and lke statements and interrelations. Covering law model posit social science prin- ‘iplethat a fewhigher-level, very abstract theories cover tnd llow deducing to many lower-level more concrete situations laws, Science explains why social life is the way it isby discovering causal laws. Explanation takes the form; Yis caused by X because ¥ and X are specific tances of a causal law. In other words, a PSS ex- planation states the general causal law that applies to or covers specific observations about socal life. This is why PSSis said touse acovering law model of explanation PSS assumes thatthe laws operate according to strict, logical reasoning, Researchers connect causal laws and the specific facts observed about social life with deductive logic. Postivists believe that eventually laws and theories of social science wil be expressed in formal symbolic systems, with axioms, corollaries, postulates, and theorems, ‘Someday, social science theories will look similar to those in mathematics and the natural sciences. ‘The laws of human behavior should be univer- sally valid, holding in all historical eras and in all cultures. As noted before, the laws are stated in a probabilistic form for aggregates of people. Forex- ‘ample, a PSS explanation ofa rise in the crime rate in Toronto in 2005 refers to factors (e.g. rising di- vorce rate, declining commitment to traditional ‘moral values, etc.) that could be found anywhere at any time: in Buenos Aires in the 1890s, Chicago in the 1940s, or Singapore in the 2010s. The factors logically obey a general law (e.g. the breakdown of traditional moral order causes an increase in the rate of criminal behavion 7. How does one determine whether an explana tion is rrue or false? Positivism developed during the Enlighten- ment (post-Middle Ages) period of Western think- ing." It includes an important Enlightenment idea: People can recognize truth and distinguish it from falsehood by applying reason, and, in the long run, the human condition can improve through the use of reason and the pursuit of truth, As knowledge grows, and ignorance declines, conditions will improve. This optimistic belief that knowledge accumulates ‘over time plays arole in how positivists sort out true from false explanations PSS explanations must meet two conditions ‘They must (1) have no logical contradictions and (2) be consistent with observed facts. Yet, thisis motCHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY 85. sufficient, Replication is also needed, Any re- searcher can replicate or reproduce the results of others. This puts a check on the whole system for creating knowledge. It ensures honesty because it repeatedly tests explanations against hard, objec- tive facts, An open competition exists among op- posing explanations, impartial rules are used, neutral facts are accurately observed, and logic is rigorously followed. Over time, scientific knowl- edge accumulates as different researchers conduct, independent tests of a theory and add up the find- ings. For example, a researcher finds that rising un- ‘employment is associated with increased child abuse in San Diego, California, A causal relation- ship between unemployment and child abuse is not demonstrated with just one study, however. Con- Firming a causal law depends on finding the same relationship in other cities with other researchers conducting independent tests using careful mea- sures of unemployment and child abuse. 8. Whar does good evidence or factual informa- sion look like? PSS is dualist; it assumes that the cold, ob- servable facts are fundamentally distinct from ideas, values, or theories. Empirical facts exist apart from personal ideas or thoughts, We can observe them by using our sense organs (eyesight, smell, hearing, and touch) or special instruments that extend the senses (€.., telescopes, microscopes, and Geiger counters), Some researchers express this idea as a language of empirical fact and a language of ab- stract theory. If people disagree over facts, it must be due to the improper use of measurement instru- ments oF to sloppy or inadequate observation. “Sci- entific explanation involves the accurate and precise measurement of phenomena” (Derksen and Gartell, 1992:1714). Knowledge of observable reality ob- ‘ained using our senses is superior to other knowl- edge (e.g., intuition, emotional feelings, etc.); it allows us to separate true from false ideas about so- cial life. Positivists assign a privileged status toempirical ‘observation and assume that Subjective understand ing of the empirical worlds shared. This means that factual knowledge is not based on just one person's observations and reasoning. It must be capable of being communicated and shared by others, Rational people who independently observe facts will agree oon them. This is called intersubjectivity, or the shared subjective acknowledgment of the facts ‘Many positivists also endorse the falsification doctrine outlined by the Anglo-Austrian philosopher Sir Karl Popper(1902-1991) in The Logic of Scien- tific Discovery (1934). Popper argued that claims to knowledge “can never be proven or fully justified, they can only be refused” (Phillips, 1987:3). Bvi- dence for a causal law requires more than piling up supporting facts: it involves looking for evidence that contradicts the causal law. Ina classic example, if | ‘want to test the claim that all swans are white, and find 1,000 white swans, Thave not totally confirmed a causal law or pattern. All it takes is locating one black swan to refute my claim—one piece of nega- tive evidence. This means that researchers search for disconfirming evidence, and even then, the best they ccan say is, “Thus far, have not been able to locate any, so the claim is probably right.” 9. What isthe relevance or use of social scientific knowledge? Positivists try to learn about how the social ‘world works to enable people to exercise control over it and make accurate predictions about it. In short, as we discover the laws of human behavior, ‘we can used that knowledge to alter and improve so- cial conditions, This instrumental form of know!- edge (discussed in Chapter 2) sees research results asa tool or instrument people use to satisfy their de- sites and control the social environment. Thus, PSS. ‘uses an instrumental orientation, in which the rel- cevance of knowledge is its ability to enable people tomaster or control events in the world around them. Intersubjectvity A principle for evaluating empir- ‘al evidence in postvist social science that states dit- {erent people can agree on what isin the empirical world by careful observations based on using the Instrumental orientation A means-end erentation toward social knowledge in which knowledge’ ike an instrument or tool that people can use to control their environment or achieve some goal. The value of knowl- ledge i ints use to achieve goals86 PARTONE / FOUNDATIONS PSS has.a technoeratic perspective toward ap- plying knowledge. The word rechnocratie combines technology with bureaucracy. PSS says after many ‘years of professional training, researchers develop in-depth technical expertise. As an expert, the re- searcher tres to satisfy the information needs of large-scale bureaucratic organizations (e.g, hospi- tals, business corporations, government agencies). ‘The questions such organization ask tend to be oriented to improving the efficiency of operations and effectiveness of reaching organizational goals or objectives. A technical expert role has the re- searcher provide answers to questions asked by oth- crs and not to ask different questions, redirect an inquiry into new areas, challenge the basic premises ‘of questions, or defy the objectives set by leaders in control ofthe bureaucratic organizations. 10. Where do sociopolitical values enter into PSS argues for objectives of value-tree sei- ence, There are to meanings ofthe term objective that observers agree on what they see and that sci- entific knowledge is not based on value, opinions, atituds, or beliefs? Postivists see science asa spe~ cial, distinctive part of society that is free of per- sonal, politcal, or religious values. It is able to ‘operate independently ofthe social and cultural forces affecting other human activity because it in- volves applying strict rational thinking and system- atic observation in a manner that transcends personal prejudices, biases, and values. Thus the norms and operation of the scientific community keep science objective. Researchers accept and in- termalize the norms as part oftheir membership in the sientifc community. The scientific community Tecnocratc perspective An applied orientation in which the researcher unquestioning accepts any re- search problems and imi onthe scope of study re- ‘quested by government, corporate, or bureaucratic officals, uneitically conducts applied research for them, and obediently supplies the offiias with infor- ‘mation needed for ther decision making. Value-free slence A postivs soca science prnc ple that social research should be conducted in an ob- jective manner based on empirical evidence alone and ‘without inference from moral-political values has an elaborate system of checks and balances to quard agains value bias. researcher's proper role tobe a“disinterested scientist”! PSS has had an immense impact on how people sce ethical issues and knowledge To the degree that « positivist sheory of scientifc knowledge has become the criterion forall know edge, moral insights and political commitments have been delegitimiced as irrational or reduced 10 mere subjective inclination. Ethical judgments are now thought of as personal opinion. (Brown, 1989-37) Summary Positivist social science is widely taught as being the same as science, Few people are aware of the origins of PSS assumptions. Scholars who devel- ‘oped it in western Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had religious training and lived ina cultural-historical setting that assumed specific religious beliefs. Many PSS assumptions will re- appear when you read about quantitative research techniques and measurement in later chapters. A positivist approach implies that a researcher begins ‘with a cause-effect relationship that he or she log- ically derives from a possible causal law in general theory. He of she logically links the abstract ideas to precise measurements of the social world. The researcher remains detached, neutral, and objective as he or she measures aspects of social life, exam- ines evidence, and replicates the research of others. ‘These processes lead to an empirical test of and con- firmation for the laws of social lif as outlined in a theory. Chart 4.2 provides a summary of PSS. ‘When and why did PSS become dominant? ‘The story is ong and complicated. Many present it as a natural advance or the inevitable progress of pure knowledge. PSS expanded largely due to changes in the larger political-social context. Po tivism gained dominance in the United States and became the model for social research in many na- ‘ions after World War II, once the United States be- came the leading world power. A thrust toward objectivism—a strong version of positivism — developed in U.S. sociology during the 1920s. Ob- Jectivism grew as researchers shifted away from social reform-oriented studies with less formal orCHAPTER 4 / THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY CHART 4.2 Summary of Positivist Social Science 1. The purpose of social science isto discover laws 2, An essentialist view is that reality is empirically ‘evident. 3. Humans are rational thinking, individualistic mammals, 4. Adeterministc stance is taken regarding human agency 5, Scientific knowledge is different from and superior toall other knowledge. 6. Explanations are nomothetic and advance via deductive reasoning, 7. Explanations are verified using replication by other researchers. Socal science evidence requites intersubjectivity. ‘An instrumental orientation is taken toward knowledge that is used from a technocratic perspective. 10. Social science should be value free and objective. precise techniques toward rigorous techniques in a “value-free” manner modeled on the natural sei- ences. They ereated careful measures of the exter- nal behavior of individuals to produce quantitative data that could be subjected to statistical analysis. Objectivism displaced locally based studies that were action oriented and largely qualitative. It grew because competition among researchers for pres- Lige and status combined with other pressure, in- cluding funds from private foundations (e.g, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, etc.) univer- Sity administrators who wanted to avoid unconven- tional polities, a desire by researchers fora public image of serious professionalism, and the informa- tion needs of expanding government and corporate hhureancracies. These pressures combined to rede- fine social research, The less technical, applied local studies conducted by social reformers (often women) were often overshadowed by apolitical, precise quantitative research by male professors in university departments." Decisions made during a scale expansion of federal government fund- 87 ing for research after World War IL also pushed the social sciences ina positivist direction, INTERPRETIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE 1 philosopher Withem Dilthey (183. 1ajor work, Einleinung in die Gei sensIMjen (Introduction to the Human, (1883 mental different types of sciencdlf Narurwis senschd@and Geisteswissenschapiflfhe former is ‘Weber argued that ‘social action with a feelings and guide deci- sions to actin pales ways. social action” wherever human related in meaning tothe be nintended collision of 0 ey nore called sovial action ch their possible prior at piher significant for sociolog: it is the primary object 02" (Weber, 1981:159) We shall spa cactiom is sul Sovial acton is dodge one’ ly Kind ofa 1ee is related to ping that originated tative social science that originates in rary studies of textual material in wt Inguiy into text and relating its parts to theo an reveal deeper meanings