Approaches/The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods:
Constructivism, Critical Theory, Empiricism, Interpretivism,
and Positivism/ Research Design
Creswell has aligned certain philosophies of science with
each of the three research approaches: Qualitative approaches-constructivist;
Quantitative approaches-postpositivist and Mixed Methods approaches-pragmatic.
To what extent do you agree with Creswell’s alignment of
these philosophies with these approaches? How flexible is such alignment? For
example, can a qualitative approach ever be postpositivist? With which
approaches would you align empiricism, interpretivism, and critical theory?
For
example, does empiricism align with a quantitative approach, a qualitative
approach, a mixed methods approach, or more than one approach?
How would you
support your choices of alignment?
