Social Media Research

01 Theory


Question

Explain the different Methods used in Positivism and Interpretivism

Answer

Positivism

  • Experiments: Change variables (for example form design) to see how other, dependent, variables react (for example form answers)
  • Surveys: Surveys can be deskriptive (describe a certain phenomenon with data) or analytical (show the link between variables)
  • Cross-Sectional Studies: Ask the same question(s) in different cultural context's
  • Longitude Studies: Gather data over a long amount of time

Interpretivism

  • Grounded Theory
  • Case Study: Examine a single phenomenon with different methods (interviews, documents, ...) in its natural context
  • Ethnography Roadmap: Researcher is embedded in a community and studies its view(s) of the world


Comments

Triangulation can also be used for positivism. It‘s not a method but rather a strategy/process which uses multiple methods, data sources and different researcher to reduce bias in a study. Another method for interpretivism would be Hermeneutics.


Oops, I thought it was in the table on slide 47 of session 2. I corrected it in the answer.