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Glossary

Post-positivism

A paradigm which builds on the foundations of positivism to suggest that, though there is one objective reality, we can only ever imperfectly know that reality because of the presence of human error in our observations and experiments. Much quantitative research is post-positivst in orientation.

Glossary

Summary (bullet points)

  • Paradigm building on positivist views
  • Whilst post-positivists also believe in the existence of an objective reality, they maintain it can only ever be imperfectly known due to human error

Classification (s)

Research term

Classification (s)

Metatheory

Foundational paper (s)

Ryan AB. Post-positivist approaches to research. Researching and Writing your Thesis: a guide for postgraduate students. 2006:12-26.