ABSTRACT
Involvement ● The researcher remains ● The researcher gets involved of the distanced from the material with the phenomena being researcher being researched researched
● Short-term contact ● Long-term contact; emphasis on trust and empathy
Preferred ● Operationalization of ● Use of multiple methods to methods concepts so that they can establish different views of
be measured phenomena
Sampling ● Large samples ● Small samples investigated in depth or over time
Data ● Experiments, surveys, ● Observation, documentacollection structured interviews and tion, open-ended and methods observation semi-structured interviews
Research ● Questionnaires, scales, test ● Researcher instruments scores and experimentation
Strengths ● Provides wide coverage of ● Ability to look at change the range of situations processes over time
As a positivist researcher, you take the stance of a natural scientist. You remain distanced from the object that you study; you focus on facts and formulate hypotheses to test them against empirical evidence (a hypothesis is a proposition that is based on a review of the theory about how something might work or behave – an explanation which may or may not be supported by the empirical evidence, i.e. the data you collect). The choice of what you study and how you will study it is determined by objective criteria rather than your beliefs and interests. You, as a researcher, are independent from the object of your study, which exists in isolation from the outside world, and you use a structured methodology (quantitative measurement through questionnaires and experiments) with the aim of collecting quantifiable data from large samples. Your findings lead to laws or law-like generalizations similar to those in the physical and natural sciences. This approach enables your to control the research process, but allows you almost no flexibility or manoeuvring ability in the methodology that you choose (Easterby-Smith et al., 1999; Saunders et al., 2007).
