Philosophy

Philosophy

Positivism adopts a clear quantitative approach to investigating phenomena, as opposed to post-positivist approaches, which aim to describe and explore in-depth phenomena from a qualitative perspective (Doyal, 1993). This paper aims to introduce the philosophical basis of research by, firstly, providing a descriptive analysis of positivist and post-positivist philosophies, and secondly, by providing a sound basis from which to discuss the 'quantitative-qualitative' debate in relation to research methods. It begins by exploring the reasons for studying philosophical issues in general and then more specifically in relation to research methodology. The philosophies of positivism and post-positivist thinking are explored using literature drawn ...