A topic in research methodology
Positivism suggests that objective knowledge of an external world may be obtained by careful systematic ('scientific') procedures.
However a modern understanding of science suggests that:
- All scientific knowledge is provisional in the sense that it is open to review in the light of new evidence;
- All observations are theory-laden – all research is informed by some theoretical perspective and so undertaken with one set of assumptions or another;
- All data sets under-determine theory – that is for any set of data it is possible to suggest more than one model or theory that could explain it. (Scientists tend to prefer simpler explanations and models with symmetrical properties – but these scientific values are themselves a form of bias).
- No general conclusion can ever logically be reached simply by induction from a finite number of examples (the 'problem of induction') – so hypotheses can be supported but never proven.
- Any negative results can always be explained away in terms such as human error, technical failures, or flaws in the theory of the instrument used – so hypotheses are never absolutely disproved (as what is tested is the intended hypotheses plus a set of auxiliary hypotheses about methodology)
This general position can be labelled postpositivism or post-positivism.
My introduction to educational research:
Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
