In philosophy and models of scientific inquiry, postpositivism is a
metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism. While positivists
believe that the researcher and the researched person are independent of
each other, postpositivists accept that theories, background, knowledge and
values of the researcher can influence what is observed. However, like
positivists, postpositivists pursue objectivity by recognizing the possible
effects of biases. Postpositivists believe that human
knowledge is based not on unchallengeable, rock-solid foundations,
but rather upon human conjectures. As human knowledge is thus unavoidably
conjectural, the assertion of these conjectures is warranted, or more
specifically, justified by a set of warrants, which can be modified or
withdrawn in the light of further investigation. However, postpositivism
is not a form of relativism, and generally retains the idea of objective
truth. Postpositivists believe that a reality
exists, like positivists do, though they hold that it can be known only
imperfectly and probabilistically. One of the first thinkers to criticize
logical positivism was Sir Karl Popper. He advanced falsification in lieu of the
logical positivist idea of verifiability. Falsificationism argues
that it is impossible to verify that a belief is true, though it is possible to
reject false beliefs if they are phrased in a way amenable to falsification.
Thomas Kuhn's idea of paradigm shifts offers a broader critique of logical
positivism, arguing that it is not simply individual theories but whole
worldviews that must occasionally shift in response to evidence.
Postpositivism is an amendment to positivism that recognizes these and
other critiques against logical positivism. It is not a rejection of the
scientific method, but rather a reformation of positivism to meet these
critiques. It reintroduces the basic assumptions of positivism: ontological
realism, the possibility and desirability of objective truth, and the
use of experimental methodology. The work of philosophers Nancy Cartwright
and Ian Hacking are representative of these ideas. Postpositivism of this type
is common in the social sciences for both practical and conceptual reasons.
There is an open controversy as to whether the work which best represents
the origins of Postpositivism is that of Thomas Kuhn or that of Karl Popper.
Whereas the work of those following Kuhn has led to a sociology of scientific
knowledge, the work of those following Popper pursue classical problems of
methodology and epistemology. Main publications
Karl Popper Logik der Forschung, rewritten in English as The Logic of
Scientific Discovery Thomas Kuhn The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions Karl Popper Conjectures and Refutations
Ian Hacking Representing and Intervening Andrew Pickering Constructing Quarks
Peter Galison How Experiments End Nancy Cartwright Nature's Capacities and
Their Measurement See also
Antipositivism Epistemology
Falsifiability Logical Positivism
Models of scientific inquiry Philosophy of science
Positivism Scientific method
Scientism Sociology of scientific knowledge
Notes References
Alexander, J.C., Fin De Siecle Social Theory: Relativism, Reductionism and The
Problem of Reason, London; Verso. D.C. Philips & Nicholas C. Burbules:
Postpositivism and Educational Research. Lanham & Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers. John H. Zammito: A Nice Derangement of
Epistemes. Post-positivism in the study of Science from Quine to Latour. Chicago
& London: The University of Chicago Press.
Popper, K., Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge,
London; Routledge. Moore, R., Towards the Sociology of
Truth, London; Continuum. External links
Positivism and Post-positivism