Positivist research is also useful as it can be stratified and quantified, as it involved the collection of quantitative data. This is illustrated in Durkheim’s study into Suicide, in which through the collection of quantitative data he was able to observe general trends in suicide statistics and link them back to possible causes through this. Positivist research is also useful because it can highlights trends and patterns in regards to social behaviour or actions. For example, by comparing the rate of divorce with other scientifically measured factors, such as socioeconomic class and location, it is possible to spot correlations that can provide an insight into reasons and meanings. This guides sociologists towards possible causes and phenomena behind actions. Positivist research is also useful because it tends to be rational and value-free, and the manner in which quantitative research is carried out with a strong emphasis on limiting researcher influence and pressure on results also results in a better set of results. The fact that Positivist research can be quantified and presented easily means it is more useful than other forms of research such as interpretivist research, which cannot be quantified or used to find or predict social behaviour.
On the other hand, positivist research is not useful because it fails to study the underlying causes behind social actions- instead relying of mere assumption with the use of statistical trends observed through the use of quantitative methods. Furthermore, the positivist assumption that all members of a society follow invariable laws or Laws of Social Behaviour is itself flawed and overly deterministic. Laws of Social behaviour can themselves be socially constructed through the process of socialisation within society, and therefore not be a representative view of the actual rules, if any, that govern social actions and human behaviour. Positivist Research can also be value-laden. This is shown through the many different interpretations used worldwide for certain social phenomena such as unemployment. Researchers engages in Positivist Research can also twist research towards their own favour in order to confirm their own hypothesis, as they alone control the method of research, subject being researched and other vital factors such as the sample size and methods of data collection. A good example of this at work is scientific studies, paid for by the tobacco industry, to prove no link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The face that this has itself been disproved clearly shows the extent to which positivist and scientific research can be distorted, and that positivist research is not value-free and objective in some cases.
Positivist research may not be useful because the subject matter of natural scientific methods is vastly different from the subject matter of social sciences and more specifically, of sociology. Positivist research also fails to take into account the fact that humans have the power of consciousness and therefore can rationalise before taking action- instead believing that human behaviour is entirely based on specific, inflexible social laws. Positivist research is also not useful because of flaws within positivist methodology. This is evident through the use of leading questions in surveys, as well as the effect of interviewer bias upon results. Because positivist methods involve the exposure of personal information and opinions by the research subject, it is also wholly possible that the Hawthorne Effect as well as self-representation can distort the information collected, and in turn the assumptions made with the information at a later stage, hence resulting in false social facts being established.
In conclusion, it can be said that Positivist Research is certainly of use when observing society from the Macro view- especially with regards to the general trends of society and the role of social institutions and socialisation on human behaviour and actions. However, Positivist Research fails completely when it comes to trying to explain, find or discover the meanings behind actions taken by humans in a social context. Positivist research also tends to lean on the highly deterministic side, completely ignoring the unique entity of the human being and its ability to consciously analyse a situation and the consequences of every course of action before taking action. In this case it can be said that the best approach towards research would be the Realist view as advocated by Urry and Keat, in which both positivist and interpretivist methods are combined, either together or to verify and check one another- through the methods of structuration as put forward by Giddens or Triangulation. Henceforth it can be said that Positivist research is indeed useful- but is best used in cooperation with other methods to ensure the best possible results.
