Qualitative research in counseling psychology: A primer on research paradigms and philosophy of science. In this study, the positivism research philosophy was chosen since it values objectivity and is able to prove or disprove hypotheses (Ryan, 2018). J Coun Psych. We will also be introducing you to the idea of research paradigms. The main difference between positivism and constructivism is their method of generation and verification of knowledge. Positivists prefer quantitative methods such as social surveys, structured questionnaires and official statistics because these have good reliability and representativeness. Being able to justify the decision to adopt or reject a philosophy should be part of the basis of research. Post-positivism is pluralist in its function which balances both positivist and interpretivist approaches. According to positivism, knowledge comes from things that can be experienced with the senses or proved by logic but, according to constructivism, humans construct knowledge through their intelligence, experiences and interactions with the world. knowledge which describes and explains the coexistence and succession of observable phenomena, including both physical and social phenomena. 2005;52:126–136. Being able to justify the decision to adopt or reject a philosophy should be part of the basis of research. Positivism . Based on these principles, positivism seeks to discover laws of nature, expressing them through descriptions of theory. the doctrine formulated by COMTE which asserts that the only true knowledge is scientific knowledge, i.e. It … positivism. Background There are three commonly known philosophical research paradigms used to guide research methods and analysis: positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. The post-positivist theoretical perspective is a flexible research perspective which allows the researcher to use multiple methods to carry out the research according to the nature of the research questions. Background: There are three commonly known philosophical research paradigms used to guide research methods and analysis: positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. ; Positivists see society as shaping the individual and believe that ‘social facts’ shape individual action. positivist approach to research leads to the use of experimental and quantitative meth-ods.