Positivism And Interpretivism Analysis

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CHAPTER FOUR – METHODOLOGY

4.1 The Research Paradigm
According to Collis & Hussey (2009) a research paradigm is a “philosophical framework that guides how research should be conducted”. The literature more commonly refers to two paradigms; positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is based on a deductive approach to the research and it is concerned with “explanatory theories to understand social phenomena.” (Collis and Hussey, 2009, p.56) Interpretivism involves an inductive process with a view to providing interpretive understanding of social phenomena within a particular context.” (Collis and Hussey, 2009, p.57)

4.2 The Research Design
Vogt states that research design is the ‘‘science (and art) of planning procedures for conducting studies so as to get the most valid findings.” (cited in Collis & Hussey, 2009) The interpretive approach derives from “exploring the complexity of social phenomena with a view to gaining interpretive understanding” (Collis & Hussey, 2009 p.57) It is understood therefore that interpretivism seeks to explore and describe the phenomena which derives from qualitative rather than quantitative. Quantative concerns itself with the quantification of data collection analysis and the testing of theories. Therefore the qualitative approach to collection of data was used.
There are various methodologies associated with the social sciences and can be categorised according to the research paradigm identified. As this study will be based on an