When sociologists carry out research, they don’t all agree on how society should be studied. Some believe sociology should work like a science, using facts and figures. Others argue that society can only be understood by exploring people’s meanings and experiences.
These two approaches are known as positivism and interpretivism, and they sit at the heart of the Research Methods and Theory & Methods parts of the AQA A-level Sociology course.
Understanding the difference between them helps you:
✔ choose suitable methods
✔ explain why sociologists disagree
✔ evaluate research in exam answers
✔ link methods to theory (e.g. Functionalism vs Interactionism)
Positivism: Studying society like a science
Positivist sociologists believe that society is made up of social facts (such as class, gender and crime rates) that exist outside individuals and can be measured objectively.
They aim to:
- find patterns and causes of behaviour
- use quantitative data (numbers and statistics)
- produce results that are reliable and replicable
Typical positivist methods include:
- questionnaires
- structured interviews
- experiments
- official statistics
Positivist theories often include:
- Functionalism (Durkheim, Parsons)
- sometimes Marxism
- the New Right
For example, a positivist studying inequality might use census data to compare:
- class and educational achievement
- gender and pay
- ethnicity and crime rates
Their key question is:
Who is unequal, and by how much?
Interpretivism: Understanding meanings and experiences
Interpretivist sociologists argue that humans are not objects like atoms or chemicals.
Instead, society is created through social interaction, and researchers must understand people’s viewpoints.
They aim to:
- uncover meanings, motives and identities
- use qualitative data (words and experiences)
- produce findings that are high in validity
Typical interpretivist methods include:
- unstructured interviews
- participant observation
- case studies
- personal documents (diaries, letters)
Interpretivist theories often include:
- Interactionism
- Phenomenology
- Ethnomethodology
- some forms of feminism and neo-Marxism
For example, an interpretivist studying inequality might interview:
- working-class pupils about school
- ethnic minority students about racism
- women about housework and emotional labour
Their key question is:
What does inequality feel like to those experiencing it?
As is often the case, students get confused with this part of the course. So to facilitate a better understanding of the basics of methodological preference, I have created a simple cheat sheet that looks at the key differences over a range of criteria.
Download the revision resource
To help you revise this topic, I’ve created a one-page comparison sheet that sets out:
- views of society
- views of research
- whether each approach is scientific
- structure vs social action
- macro vs micro
- types of data
- methods used
- theories linked to each methodological approach
You can download it here:
You can also hear me talk about positivism and interpretivism in the following tutor2u videos.
