Positivist vs. Interpretive Research Perspectives

The positivist approach

Positivist researchers "seek to explain and predict what happens in the social world by searching for regularities and causal relationships between its constituent elements" (p. 5). For example, a positivist would claim computer experience can be measured and the numbers obtained analyzed to determine and predict systematic changes in the skill level in using a spreadsheet to make a financial projection.

The interpretivist approach

As opposed to positivists, interpretivist researchers believe, "the social world is essentially relativistic and can only be understood from the point of view of the individuals who are directly involved in the activities which are being studied." (p. 5). Here the researcher would believe that only by understanding the thinking process and behavior within the spreadsheet user could one determine the effect of experience. For example, past experience may not have been remembered well or even seen to be germane to the task at hand.