Positivist vs. Interpretive Research Perspectives
Burrell and Morgan (1979) provide a very useful distinction between
these approaches:
The positivist approach
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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
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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.