Qualitative Educational Research in Theory and Practice - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages There are various oriental approaches used for understanding the different phenomena in life. One such way of viewing the world is positivism. Positivism is philosophical science based information derived from mathematical and logical source of knowledge (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2011, pp. 12). Auguste Comte developed the paradigm in the 19th century with an objective viewpoint on stability of reality while basing various arguments on historical perspectives. Positivism is also the act of manipulating independent variables while maintaining others constant, in a bid, to identify the relationship between various elements of the world. The predictions in positivism may rely on past, or previous realities explained in the historical tradition. Notably, positivism discredits the existence of human knowledge in the society. It remains based on this regards that various discussions have arisen to counter the paradigm of positivism. The paradigms relationship with natural and physical sciences for instance, as remained a point of controversy. The paradigm reiterates that action within the society is similar to reactions that the physical world remits towards the absolute laws such as gravity (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2011, pp. 24). Positivism has generated an argument between poetry and philosophy hence creating a rift in the education systems. For instance, there has been a widening gap between humanities and sciences a factor brought misunderstanding in the education. Positivism advocates for superiority of sciences over the human mind thoughts for the reasons that the human mind provides non-inward knowledge. It furthermore promotes the use of scientific knowledge in judgmental decisions while disregarding other disciplines. Positivism believes reality exists; however, it is composed of various discrete elements (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2011, pp. 28). This means that reality in positivism is any phenomena with a single objective reiterating a solitary world. This has greatly influenced the education system considering the rift generated by the explanation. For instance, positivism regards social sciences as fallacious. This is the act of treating an abstract concept as having a real existence (May 2001, pp 44). This leads to causal efficacy between the two disciplines that fight over the impartial treatment of abstraction. Realism is the most common philosophical perspective, which holds the thought of a relationship and trust in non-observable concepts. Apart from causing confusion in education systems, positivism also promotes reification. Marxist philosophers like berger and Pullberg 1966 demise social sciences, while giving attention to reification (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2011, pp. 36). The Marxist theory, on the other hand, associates social sciences to capitalism a factor, which further complicates the education system. According to the theory, societal institutions have changed their role influencing existence of people. Use of positivism in the current education systems, therefore, not only causes confusion, but it also violates the integrity of history. It arouses negative feelings, creating biases towards various occurrences in life. It suggests elements of dishonesty in the process of creating various systems (May 2001, pp 67). Positivism does not derive conclusions on a subjective approach. Consequently, positivism does not give priority to emotion or feelings to interfere with the process of judgment. The basis of this argument is the fact that these aspects get ...Download file to see next pagesRead More