Positivism

       

   Positivism is a philosophy of science based on the view that information derived from logical and mathematical treatments and reports of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge, and that there is valid knowledge only in scientific knowledge. In other word, it states that any system that confines it self to the data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical speculations.  This philosophy is developed by Auguste Comte in the middle of 19^th century. Positivism is the most evolved stage of society in anthropological.

      According to Auguste Comte, society undergoes three different phase in its quest for the truth. These phases are the Theological, the Metaphysical and the Positive. The Theological Phase of man is based on whole-hearted belief in all things with reference to god. It dealt with the restrictions put in place by the religious organization at the time and the total acceptance of any “fact” placed forth for society to believe. 

       Meanwhile, The Metaphysical Phases of man states that the universal rights of man are the most important. It means when a man is born with certain rights, that should and cannot be taken away, that must be respected and central at its heart. The final phase, The Positive Phase states that individual rights are more important than the rule of any one person. This phase stated the idea that man can govern himself and it makes this final phase innately different from the rest. 

      The advantage of positivism is quantitative approach. Positivism itself relies on quantitative data that positivists believe is more reliable than qualitative research. Quantitative research is more “scientific” in its methods than qualitative research and thus more trustworthy. In research, quantitative data provides objective information that researchers can use to make scientific assumptions. Another advantage is structure which means positivism follows a well-defined structure during studies and discussions. Positivists believe that since there are set laws and rules followed, there will be minimum room for error. This structure also gives little room for variance and drastic variable changes, thus making the study more accurate when it comes to experiments and applications as it tries to follow specific rules using objective mathematical and scientific tools.

         Human behaviour is one kind of disadvantage of positivism because it believes that objective inferences and conclusions can be reached as long as the person doing the observation is objective and disregards her emotions. However, human behaviour naturally comes with emotional responses. Although positivism encourages researchers to disregards human emotion and behaviour, there is no guarantee that this will occur at all times during studies. Inflexibility also is a disadvantage of positivism. Some scholars believe that since positivists believe everything can be measured and calculated, they tend to be inflexible. Positivists see things as they are and tend to disregard unexplained phenomena. If a theory that says A only occurs when B and C combine, then B can never be A. This belief can eliminate lateral thinking, which is the process of finding answers by creatively and indirectly finding out ways to solve a problem.

        As a conclusion, positivism is also depicted as “the view that all true knowledge is scientific”, and that all things are ultimately measurable. This knowledge can then be used to affect the course of social change and improve the human condition. It has had relatively little influence on contemporary sociology, however, because it is argued that it encourages a misleading emphasis on superficial facts without any attention to underlying mechanisms that cannot be observed.