Social Positivism

Social positivism is a sociological theory developed by Auguste Comte in the 1830s. The theory holds that the addition (i.e., positive rather than subtractive) of new material combined with what is already known can be used to predict future social events and behavior. Positivists rely on data of an empirical nature, believing that only what can be observed can be considered the truth. In addition, positivists appreciate the quantification of data as it does not include the subjective interpretations of people, only fact. There are several criticisms of positivism, especially its reliance on observable phenomena, as it does not allow for concepts including spirituality or the supernatural. Scientists also argue over the value of quantitative versus qualitative data.

Keywords Comte, August; Empiricism; Epistemology; Metaphysical; Methodology; Positivism; Qualitative; Quantitative; Structural Functionalism

Social Positivism

Overview

For most people, the thought of proving a concept is as challenging as identifying the criminal in an episode of Law and Order. Most people do not collect and analyze data on a regular basis, but they can if they have to for the duration of a television show. For a scientist, though, a concept is not considered a concept until it can be proven as such; a chair is not a chair until it is ruled out as being some other piece of furniture. In many cases, it is the methodology of how that proof is gathered (and subsequently interpreted) that determines into what branch of science an investigator can be categorized. Within the field of social science, or sociology, a social positivist studies facts; a naturalist studies what happens in certain environmental conditions; and a realist prefers to see things for him or herself, ignoring what might be ideal. And, within many scientific disciplines, each category of investigator agrees to disagree with the others.

Social positivism is such a category. Positivism manifests itself across all scientific realms (biology, chemistry, physics, sociology, etc.) because it is clear, concise, and leads to an answer that can be proven by fact, i.e., empirical data. From a positivist perspective, a concept can only be considered a concept when the facts (what can be seen, calculated, or dissected) prove that it is (in fact) a concept. Auguste Comte, a founder of sociology who first coined the term, created the theory in the nineteenth century as a way to rid the scientific world of rationalism, a perspective that relies on reason as the guiding voice for action. Comte believed that proof is essential to science (and the science of sociology); since reason includes intuition, positivists have no use for it.

As a social philosophy that relies heavily on science, positivism is distinct from other philosophies in several ways. First, a positivist investigator has to obtain facts (from various sources) in an objective manner; emotions and values have no place in positivism. Second, induction of generalizations is the basis for beginning an investigative search. As Turner (2006) notes, a positivist's work is "guided by highly abstract theoretical principles" (p. 453). Third, empiricism guides all of an investigator's work. The abstract is a good place to begin, but in the end, there must be concrete evidence to prove a concept. Finally, practicality is essential; the more quantifiable the data, the easier it is to control. The point of the theoretical work is to make a prediction about future social behavior based on new information being added (i.e., positive) to the old (behavior that occurred within history).

Positivism across Various Fields

Other scientists saw the value in Comte’s generalist methodology, and a surge of cross-perspective research resulted from positivism. The fields of psychology, education, economics, business, and the labor industry received an increase in interest as data collection relied on quantification rather than supposition (Smelser, 1990). However, while the popularity of positivism grew, so did its critics. Those critical of the theory, according to Turner (2006), misunderstood it, especially its methodology. Turner (2006) argues that data collection was not the only goal of positivist theorists.

A few positivists use mathematics in their formulation of theoretical principles, but this is not the same as quantifying variables. The more important point is that, at times, quantification is possible, and if possible, it is probably desirable, but quantification for its own sake violates the basic tenets of positivism. The most important tenet for positivists is to denote universal and generic properties of the social world and to formulate laws about their dynamic properties (Turner, 2006, p. 452–453).

Turner (2006) also notes that taking an historical Perspective—analyzing events in social history—in addition to other positivist methodology, helps to predict those social dynamics . Using this view, positivism could be summarized as looking at the whole plus its parts.

An Example of Quantitative Data

An example of positivism could be the high school student looking for the perfect college. Many students look at a school's history when considering the idea of spending four years there. At the State University College at Plattsburgh, New York, the curriculum began in the late 1800s when the school opened as a normal school; it taught teachers how to teach. Since then, though, it has developed a cross-disciplinary curriculum as a school of arts and sciences. While it still has a division of education on both undergraduate and graduate levels, it also shares space with business, chemistry, and history when it once did not.

To find out if the school of education has experienced a negative in no longer being the college's primary function, a prospective student might do two things. First, he or she could look at statistics, discerning how many applicants finish the education program and how many of those graduates find positions within the field of education. Second, the student could ask people who attended the education program what their experience was. All of the information gathered would have to be compared first to information gathered when the school was entirely education-based, and second, to similar information gathered from other schools with education programs.

The statistical data that is based on the history of the school and the conclusions made solely on those numbers are thus quantitative. The subjective details provided by former education majors is considered qualitative and would only appeal to a positivist if the details are based on fact rather than opinion, which is rarely the case. However, considering the historical dynamic of the school and any quantitative data collected, a positivist would be able to predict how a prospective student would fare at Plattsburgh State for the next four years.

Applications

Example: Photography

One way to make a theory seem valuable is to make it applicable to real life. For photographers, according to Saltz (2006), positivism was the golden egg in the nineteenth century, and inventor William Henry Fox Talbot was the mother goose sitting on it. Historically, photography and positivism gained popularity around the same time in the mid-1800s. While people were able to create still pictures earlier, photography (daguerreotype) was not invented until 1839. That is just about the time that Auguste Comte was knee-deep in publishing his multivolume work Cours de Philosophie Positive. Berger (1982) points out that the concepts of photography and positivism grew up together (as cited in Saltz, 2006).

According to Saltz (2006), the two had a great deal in common:

Photography, like positivism, limits the real and knowable to the visible, to facts that can be observed, measured, and quantified. A positivist model of knowledge likewise assumes a split between a neutral observing subject and the objects or people observed (Saltz, 2006, p. 73).

Observation needs light, and Talbot's focus as a photographer was embedded in the duality of light and dark, picture and shadow. Interestingly, while the ideas of light and dark seem in opposition, they rely on each other for existence, as without the ability to identify darkness, the human eye does not perceive light. As a result of Talbot's work, positivist scientific thought at the time focused on the concept of polarity—opposites attracting while substances with similar composition repel each other (Saltz, 2006).

Photography and its concepts of light and dark can be proven, examined, and measured, as can the polar forces of electricity and gravity. As a result, the polarity identified in Talbot's work provided other scientists with a perfect example of positivism, and a means to conduct work across disciplines.

Critical Viewpoints

While many have utilized the positivist theory, many have also criticized it, noting various shortcomings in its foundation. As a result of those noted shortcomings, there has been much research criticizing the theory when it is applied to many situations.

The Qualitative Nature of Stress

Change is a constant condition, and with change comes stress—either good stress (like buying a house) or bad stress (like losing a job). Because stress is a cross-cultural and frequently occurring phenomenon, it makes sense that scientists would want to study it. However, studying how people interact with stress does not approach why some people are affected by it and others are not. Bicknell and Liefooghe (2006) identify disconnect as a concern for stress research, as treating the symptoms of stress does not treat the cause of it. "It is not simply…that stress occurs when there is a 'misfit' between person and environment, but rather that that 'misfit' must be negotiated" (p. 380).

There are many ways to relieve stress. Getting enough sleep and exercising regularly are two notable things people can do to reduce the stress in their lives. These two activities, though, do not help to reduce the stressors in one's life; they simply aim to help a person better handle a stressful situation. For many people, stress is encountered on a daily basis at work. However, like purchasing a new home, stress at work is not necessarily considered negative. In fact, according to Sky News in 2003, "77% of the UK's workers believe stress at work leads to greater job satisfaction" (as cited in Bicknell & Liefooghe, 2006, p. 379).

In addition to the symptom versus cause disconnect, there is also a great deal of disconnect within the discipline of stress research methodology.

Studies within the field of organizational and occupational psychology have largely (though not exclusively) been from a positivist perspective … [but] arguments around subjective vs. objective assessment come into sharp focus when applied to stress (Perrewe´ & Zellars, 1999; Schaubroeck, 1999, as cited in Bicknell & Liefoogh, 2006, p. 378–379).

Indeed, how someone feels (i.e., whether or not one feels stressed) is subjective, and therefore qualitative. People tend to spend time in therapy sessions discussing their feelings rather than using statistical data to note each experience of stress (under what circumstances the stress occurred, the time of day it occurred, the weather on the days of occurrence, the amount of sleep acquired the night before each occurrence, etc.) since their last visit. True positivism would require that the policies regulating therapy change to be more data friendly.

Education Policy

The policies governing public education should be determined by the public, but this is not often the case. There are many influences that affect the regulations of schools. Those influences spread from the local level to various governmental entities, especially when funding is concerned. With so much at stake—and so many people involved in the process—it is no wonder that decisions are based (primarily) on quantitative data collected from standardized test scores and experimental trials that show results in tidy lists of information. When tests scores are listed on a sheet of paper, it is easy to see that District A has a lower pass rate for a state's required tenth grade science exam when compared with Districts B and C. What is not easy to see, however, is the reason behind the decrease in scores.

Qualitative measures are probably a better way to collect that data, but the information reported from interviews with administrators, teachers, and students will not be as easy to interpret at a budget meeting. Rather than basing standard policy on generalized assessments, Lees (2007) suggests that the differences within each district be taken into account when determining what is considered best policy, even if the data collected is difficult to interpret. "Complexity must be accepted as a necessary part of research, policy development, school management, teaching and learning" (Lees, 2007, p. 50–51).

In addition, Delandshere (2006) notes that the disparity within the United States education system ties the hands of the researchers who would want to investigate District A's lower scores.

In an unprecedented move, the US federal government has in effect mandated what constitutes educational research worthy of public funding. Many government requests for research proposals in education, or for evaluation of federally funded programs in general, explicitly require the use of randomised controlled trials. In addition, and consistent with this mandate, states and school districts which receive federal education funds are also required to use these monies on programs for which there exist scientifically-based evidence (as cited in Lees, 2007, p. 56–57).

Such specific and controlled data collection cannot be qualitative, nor does the United States government assert that it should be. As a result, data collection is skewed because it ignores the very people it is supposed to support. District A is seen as just one notation on a sheet of many.

Religion

While photography and education are measurable concepts, stress and religion are not as clear-cut. Stress, however, is identifiable by the physiological affect on the people it inflicts. Spirituality is not identified by a rapid heart rate or sweaty palms. While scientific theory embraced the idea of positivism for over one hundred years, those who embraced religion were in conflict with science.

Within the philosophical and methodological framework of positivism, there is no epistemologically legitimate scope for the study of human spirituality and subjectivism. But today's new science challenges the basic assumptions of positivism. No serious philosopher of science today believes that positivism depicts the true nature of science. In the post-positivist conception, the study of human subjectivity is a legitimate scientific inquiry…Out of the revolt against positivism, there began to grow a new conception of science, and it is within this new conception that there is developing an evaluative space for the scientific exploration of religion and spirituality (Shahidullah, 2007, p. 20).

As positivism was lost from the center of scientific thought, new ways of thinking were formed. For the most spiritual, though, nothing new had to be born; what science rejected, the most religious disregarded—for them the existence of God does not need to be proven to be believed. Nonetheless, religion, belief, and intuition carry weight within the twenty-first century world of science. In fact, in 2004, the world of physics acknowledged a new theory, the wave theory—the theory of everything that encompasses much of what positivism rejects. As Roberts (2002) asserts, "It is this postmodern trend of thought that begins to produce a space for the evaluation of religious knowledge and spirituality in science, particularly in human sciences" (as cited in Shahidullah, 2007, p. 8). Subjectivity and intuition have become valuable pieces of the scientific world.

Quality versus Quantity

The concept of qualitative data versus quantitative data is one that has been considered for centuries. And sociology is just a small focus of the debate. However, arguing that qualitative data is more valid than quantitative data and that quantitative data is more concise than qualitative data does not settle the debate of one being "better" than the other. When considering the example of what college to attend, both statistics about a school's graduate placements and conversations with those graduates is probably the best way to go, as personal preference includes a great deal of variability while statistics do not. However, other instances of quality versus quantity invade our daily lives, and sometimes, where to spend the next four is not as important as being able to spend it.

Fields like criminal investigation, medicine, and forensic science rely on empiricism—only facts and raw data to determine what the truth is. While observation can assist in the methodology of these fields, quantitative data is relied upon to make determinations that save lives and put the bad guys behind bars, and there is no question about the choice of methods used. Sociology is not as clear cut, and the argument about quantitative versus qualitative methodology clearly remains under debate. Furthermore, the argument has not only divided the camps within the debate, it has segregated the few who care enough to argue. Burris (2007) does not believe this debate will end any time soon.

Implicated in the debate over quantitative versus qualitative methods are both genuine differences about the most valued forms of sociological knowledge … If ever there were a specter haunting sociology, it is this dichotomy, which shows no sign of abating despite the many reasoned appeals for methodological pluralism (Little 1991) and despite the fact that many individual sociologists easily straddle both sides of the line … [I]nsofar as the quantitative qualitative dichotomy is intertwined with the contest for disciplinary prestige and the relative valuation of different kinds of intellectual capital, the prospects for a negotiated truce are more problematic (Burris, 2007, p. 104–105).

Neither the quantitative nor the qualitative is evil or harmful; the methods are what they are—valid ways of gathering and documenting data.

Terms & Concepts

Empiricism: The use of observation and experimentation (rather than theory) to make a conclusion.

Epistemology: The philosophical study of knowledge—how it is discovered, in what depth, and how accurate it is.

Metaphysical: What cannot be seen or proven by observation.

Methodology: The specific ways (e.g., a questionnaire, an interview, or an experiment) used to better understand concepts or phenomena, or reach conclusions about them.

Positivism: A sociological theory stating that knowledge is acquired through observation and experimentation rather than by opinion, metaphysics (what cannot be seen), or theology.

Qualitative Data: Data collected that does not rely on numbers (e.g., writing an essay exam or answering questions during an interview rather than checking off choices).

Quantitative Data: Data collected that is measurable or denoted by numbers (e.g., completing an exam using a Scantron form rather than writing an essay).

Structural Functionalism: A sociological theory that posits that within every social structure (politics, family, etc.) each person has a function with the common goal being to keep the structure in balance.

Bibliography

Åge, L. (2011). Grounded theory methodology: Positivism, hermeneutics, and pragmatism. Qualitative Report, 16 , 1599–1615. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=67271096&site=ehost-live

Bicknell, M. & Liefooghe, A. (2006). The art of stress. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology 79 , 377–394. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Research Premier: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=22558001&site=ehost-live

Burris, V. (2007). Fordism and positivism in U.S. sociology. Social Science History 31 , 93–105. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from EBSCO online database, Academic Search Premier: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24237349&site=ehost-live

Goduka, N. (2012). From positivism to indigenous science. Africa Insight, 41 , 123–138. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=79812585&site=ehost-live

Lees, P. J. (2007). Beyond positivism: Embracing complexity for social and educational change. English Teaching: Practice & Critique 6 , 48–60. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=30001722&site=ehost-live

Henderson, A. (2011). The new positivism: Research and education. National Social Science Journal, 35 , 84–89. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=65481573&site=ehost-live

Positivism. (Website) Retrieved March 24, 2008 from website: http://changingminds.org/explanations/research/philosophies/positivism

Saltz, L. (2006). "The art of fixing a shadow": Talbot's polar epistemology of early photography. English Language Notes 44 , 73–86. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24551683&site=ehost-live

Shahidullah, S. M. (2007). Science and religion: The quest for knowledge and certainty in the postmodern era [the cases of medicine and psychiatry]. Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology 4 , 1. Retrieved March 26, 2008 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=28531600&site=ehost-live

Smelser, N. J. (1990). Sociological theory: Looking forward. American Sociologist 21 , 275–282. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9602290719&site=ehost-live

Turner, J. (2006). Explaining the social world: Historicism versus positivism. Sociological Quarterly 47 , 451–463. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=21638527&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Berger, J. & Mohr, J. (1982). Another way of telling. New York: Vintage Books.

Buckland, G. (1980). Fox Talbot and the invention of photography. Boston: David R. Godine.

Burawoy, M. (2011). The last positivist. Contemporary Sociology, 40 , 396–404. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=69671144&site=ehost-live

Comte, A. [1830–1842] (1896). The positive philosophy of Auguste Comte. Translated by Martineau. London: George Bell.

Delandshere, G. (2006). "Scientific" research in disguise and the threat to a spirit of inquiry. In B. Doecke, M. Howie & W. Sawyer (Eds.), "Only connect": English teaching, schooling and community (pp. 69–82). Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press.

Lather, P. (1991). Feminist research in Education: Within/Against. Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press.

Lather, P. (2006a). Paradigm proliferation as a good thing to think with: Teaching research in education as a wild profusion. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 19 , 35–57.

Lather, P. (2006b). Foucauldian scientificity: Rethinking the nexus of qualitative research and educational policy analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 19 , 783–791.

Ogburn, W. F. (1922). Social change: With respect to culture and original nature. New York: B.W. Huebach. Positivism & Post Positivism. Research Methods Knowledge Base. Retrieved March 24, 2008 from website: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/positvsm.php

President's Research Committee on Social Trends 1933. Recent Social Trends in the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Smelser, N. J. (1976). Comparative methods in the social sciences. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall.

Steinmetz, G. (2005). Positivism and its others in the social sciences, in George Steinmetz (ed.) The politics of method in the human sciences: Positivism and its epistemological others. Durham, NC: Duke University Press: 1–56.

Tacq, J. (2011). Causality in qualitative and quantitative research. Quality & Quantity, 45 , 263–291. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=56588602&site=ehost-live