POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVIST PARADIGMS

POSITIVISM AND INTERPRETIVIST PARADIGMS

Introduction

My research topic is social sciences, and the research issue that I am addressing in this research paper is homelessness, which is based on the rising problems of social pathology. Social pathology is a recently developed model or concept of modern social science that describes the social structures and the collective human behaviors which lead to the violation of the set social norms of a particular group of people due to possible social disorganizations caused by social factors like crimes and poverty. A significant problem resulting from social pathology in the society is homelessness, which is spurred by the significant aspects of social pathologies, which cause disorganization of families; hence people scatter, and most of them remain homeless.

Homelessness is one of the more complex social problems and composes a number of both social and economic factors which address homelessness as spurred by poverty, family breakdowns, or low financial status of people such that they cannot afford housing in towns; this is mainly due to unemployment cases among youths. In my research, I have put forward the key aspects used for addressing the issue based on Positivism and the interpretivism paradigms.

However, my research topic of social sciences fits the research paradigms suggested since it involves the study of human societies and analyses the existing relationships among individuals who live in those societies. My decision to conduct social science research on homelessness as an example of social pathology has again been prompted by the increasing number of homeless men, women, and young people in most societies. Generally, homelessness is defined as the state of people having no permanent places for living.

Additionally, the basis of how the positivism and interpretivism paradigms address homelessness as a social problem is mainly due to people having varying perspectives of the social issue, and thus, they develop different means of addressing this situation. The positivist paradigm focuses on the exploration of social reality by emphasizes the aspect of understanding the behavior of individuals by simply observing the facts obtained from the state of the social problem to be able to gain knowledge that is essential in analyzing the homelessness situation.

However, the evidence obtained from this positivism study is always modifiable, especially in cases where new information is achieved since the aim of this paradigm is to ensure the precision of the answers provided to the research problem. Again, the positivist paradigm focuses on the quantification of data by basically gathering information from as many sources as possible. This paradigm is based on the historical view or approach to homelessness, whereby it complies with several statistical data analyzing the numbers of homeless individuals, to know the actual amount which needs immediate attendance or help by providing them with the necessary resources. Mostly, the positivist paradigm explains the homelessness problem as due to natural and historical aspects and thus has a comprehensive perspective of the research topic to ensure that enough data which is up to date is accumulated. This ensures that the research problem is addressed since it compiles any necessary data regarding the social issue.

On the other hand, the interpretivism paradigm mainly aims at the interpretation of the elements that may be the significant causes of homelessness in the society, in the effort of understanding the personal experiences or human interests on the issue of homelessness. This paradigm, however, accepts or appreciates the differences of the responses given by the homeless people since they face different challenges, and again the cause of the social problem also differs. However, the data collected from this paradigm methodology is qualitative since it considers explanations direct from the affected people, and uses this information in making precise decisions; hence the conclusion drawn from this paradigm is meaningful and reliable for addressing the homelessness social problem. This research paradigm goes deeper into the analysis of homelessness, whereby it assesses the possible causes of the problem by examining the social factors that lead to homelessness.

This research study is essential in addressing the homelessness social problem in two different dimensions that qualitative and quantitative research of social sciences. The qualitative research emphasizes the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of the individuals in the homelessness situation. Again, it accesses the development of the relationships between the individuals in a particular society and aims at conducting detailed interviews and listening directly to the affected people; hence gathering data is made easy.

Again, the data collected in this case is very accurate and may be used for the implementation of appropriate methods to solve the problem of homelessness. On the other hand, quantitative research is based on the experiences obtained from the analysis of statistical data to represent the overall number of homeless people in a particular society over a specified period. This paradigm is essential in decision making based on the generation of the appropriate solution and a reliable resolution for the provision of the resources to the homeless people.

Generally, the study of social science in the homelessness perspective helps in the analysis of the effects that result from this social problem. These include cases of severe trauma to the young people, the youths, and children, and this is a significant aspect of the disruption of their relationships. Thus they have risks of health problems like mental illness due to depression, which in turn hinders their development.

Objectives

This research study seeks to ensure the development of accurate descriptions to address the issue of homelessness, to aid in the understanding of the reality or facts since there is a provision of valid knowledge about the whole problem. This is governed by the goal or objective of validity since the conclusion and the statements made must be credited correctness.

Additionally, this research study is aimed at ensuring the acceptability of the interpretations of the global social world, which are used to address the problem of homelessness by the two paradigms; Positivism and interpretivism.

The research study is also aiming at making a reliable and useful conclusion to point out the desirable paradigm, which defines the most appropriate solution to the problem of homelessness and the analysis of various social pathology aspects that contribute to the causes of homelessness and provide a justification for the best practices to curb them.

Moreover, another key objective of this study is ensuring that the conclusions drawn from the entire research discussion relating the positivism and interpretivism paradigms are valid, and the implementation or formulation of these conclusions will solve the problem of homelessness and there are no inaccuracies in the measurement of the extent of the homelessness cases in a particular society or group of people. The primary importance of this is to ensure that the data or information collected about homeless people is appropriate and can be compared to various groups of people or societies.

Another goal of this study is to examine the impacts of witnessing social factors like domestic violence, on the romantic relationships of children at their adult age. Some evident cases of homelessness are as a result of domestic violence, and children are victims of this. This causes trauma and may lead to future challenges, especially when interacting with other people.

Positivism and interpretivism paradigms have been used purposely to aid in addressing homelessness, which is among the topics in social science, and it is caused by social pathology, which is mainly initiated or facilitated by the presence or occurrence of the crimes or political instability.  Social life has various experiences that are provoking individuals to reexamine their surroundings. For instance, the presence of an unpleasant public encounter may initiate people to try retrospectively purposely to make sense of hopelessness.

Therefore there is a need to address how and why various things have been happening or occurring as they are now. This indicates that people should carry out various researches or studies purposely to aid in determining how and why multiple instances of homelessness have been happening.  All human beings are interested in understanding and offering or providing explanations on those experiencers they are experiencing in their lives.

This fundamental sense of curiosity indicates the foundation of social science research or even the act of reexamining the social world with the aim of understanding and being able to explain how homelessness as a topic in social science has been affecting people.

Most of the people have been denied the ability to invest time or effort, which may be used to formally study their social  environment, thus inhibiting many people to beware of why and how homelessness has been affecting people in their daily lives. Therefore this has facilitated the social scientist that is in the business purposely to aid in exploring all the aspects of human behavior and environment, particularly the act of homelessness.  This research explains the two perspectives of Positivism and interpretivism or constructionism and the influence on homelessness, which is the topic in social science under investigation.

Therefore the final part of this chapter aids in determining the similarities and differences between positivism and interpretivism methods.  For sociologists, understanding, explaining, and reporting how and why various people have been behaving involves the act of analyzing and presenting reality. This consists of the law of sharing with the audience on the multiple observations concerning the various causes of homelessness. Therefore both Positivism and interpretivism have to do with numerous assumptions about the study of how homelessness has been affecting many people in different geographical areas.

According to the Positivism and interpretivism  paradigms, several approaches have been made to aid in addressing homeless related to the social science stated in this case and the methodological implications of adopting this different paradigmatic assumption in researching homelessness.

Positivism and interpretivism paradigms usually have considerable methodological implications for sociological research. First and foremost, the positivist paradigm or technique involves the act of using various methodological techniques that are representing the human experience, which is used in determining the number of people who are homeless. This is mainly initiated or facilitated by the ability to use human experience statistical categories hence being referred to as statistics some times. Therefore this implies that in the positivism research, the various sociologists are mainly interested in determining the number of people who are homeless through act counting. On the other hand, interpretivism research involves offering or providing detailed descriptions of and the analysis based on the quality of the human experience.

Therefore this implies that the sociologists who are involved in researching or studying about homeless which is the topic under research will be mainly interested in determining various experiences which may be possessed by the people who are homeless which is contrary to the Positivism which deals with the use of multiple techniques purposely to aid in determining number of the people who are homelessness.

Positivism paradigm deals or focuses more on the number of affected people: the homeless. This involves the act of carrying out various statistics using numerical values purposely to aid in determining the number of people who are homeless. Conversely, interpretivism involves determining multiple experiences that people have. Besides, this paradigm identifies the causes and the challenges which occur people after being rendered homeless.

Furthermore, interpretivism mainly focuses on the individuals, unlike Positivism, which involves the act of generalizing and making various assumptions of the causes and challenges that people who are homeless are facing in their daily lives. This implies that in interpretivism paradigm researches or sociologists slay interview each individual to determine what had resulted to homelessness and the challenges that they have been facing.

Therefore these paradigms will gather data in distinct forms hence producing information differently. This involves the act of analyzing the data, which is the practice of looking at the meanings of the data. First and foremost, Positivism, data is mainly gathered through the use of numerical techniques or carrying out various statistics.   Therefore the number of individuals who are homeless is determined primarily by the act of generalizing the numerical values obtained throughout the study.

For instance, upon reading all the transcripts of the interviews of the homeless people,  the researcher may realize that different results were obtained: Respondents or individuals often mentioned or stated that fighting with their parents. At the same time, they are younger and also children being unable to live according to their parent’s expectations.  Following the research, it is indicated that these fights have led to an increase in the number of homeless people. Therefore this would be considered as the theme in qualitative analysis.

With interpretivism, the analysis of the data is mainly done with statistics. In this  case, researchers usually ask people who are homeless to make panhandling in a day, thus being able to determine how this relates statistically with their self-reported well-being and also being able to determine whether there are differences among the people depending on their age, gender or race. In this paradigm, data analysis is usually done systematically. For instance,  the number of homeless people whereby the research is carried out,  all of their voices should be given equal weight in the analysis or coding of the data.

Researchers in carrying out multiple studies have used various designs.  Therefore the design follows the accepted standards, which include the adherence of the Good Clinical Practice. It is consequently vital to develop or establish various standard operating procedure and  trials which aid in monitoring the set procedures which assist in carrying out the research. The unique events of the study or research will be articulated and submitted for trial registration purposely to complement the activities which are registered as part of the milt-site trial.

Therefore between positivism and interpretivism paradigms, interpretivism is the paradigm of interest in my research merely because it aided me in determining the causes as well as the challenges which individuals who are homeless have been facing.  This was mainly facilitated or initiated by the capability or ability of interpretivism to interview each individual to determine or evaluate various experiences that have occurred homeless people.

Besides, interpretivism is the appropriate paradigm that facilitated or initiated the success of research to determine people who are homeless. Therefore unlike the  positivist paradigm, which only generalizes the number of homeless people without determining the factors which have subjected them to be homeless. The capability or the ability of interpretivism to identify some of the factors which initiated an increment of homelessness cases. Also, this paradigm aided in determining challenges which have been befalling people who are homeless in their daily lives.

Also, interpretivism or qualitative paradigm aids in accessing the development of the relationships between the individuals in a particular society and aims at conducting detailed interviews and listening directly to the affected people; hence gathering data is made easy. Again, the data collected in this case is very accurate and may be used for the implementation of appropriate methods to solve the problem of homelessness.