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Research using 2x3 factorial design and The term Positivism dominates the quantitativequalitative debate. Examine the statement in light with the debates on the quantitative and qualitative approaches to research.

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Ã¯Â»Â¿Name â€“ Himaghna Barua Course â€“ Methods in psychology Q 1. Develop a research design of your choice using a 2X3 factorial design. Factorial design is a form of research methodology that enables for the investigation of the main and interaction effects between two or more independent variables and on one or more outcome variable(s). A study which investigates more than one independent variable is known as a factorial design (Crutchfield, 1938; Fisher, 1935). A factor is an independent variable and a level is a subdivision of a factor in the experiment. The aim of factorial design is to provide an empirical framework that allows researchers to analyse a variety of main and interaction effects between independent variables using univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Subject variables include factors such as gender, age, and intellect. If they are considered to be possible causes of changes in the dependent variable, they are often called independent variables. Factorial research designs are often described using terms like two-way, three-way, and four-way. The term "way" refers to a factor or an independent variable. A one-way design, for example, refers to one independent variable, while a two-way design refers to two independent variables, a three-way design to three independent variables, and so on. The number of factors and levels within the factors can be expressed by listing the number of levels in each factor and separating each of these numbers with a multiplication symbol, X, which is referred to as â€˜byâ€™. ...read more.


Both the British empiricists and the French sensationalists believed that all knowledge is gained by experience and that there are no inherent ideas. They said that all knowledge, including moral knowledge, was drawn from personal experience. The only thing we can be assured of, according to Comte, is what is socially observableâ€”that is, sense experiences that can be shared with others. Science's data are publicly accessible and can be relied. Scientific laws, for example, are statements about how observational events differ together, and once established, they can be experienced by anyone who is involved. Positivism was identified after Comte's emphasis on associating knowledge with empirical observations. The belief that science can only look at things that can be directly experienced. That meant publicly witnessed events or overt actions for Comte. Qualitative and quantitative research are often depicted as diametrically opposed and as distinct as they can be. The aim of qualitative research is to describe the qualities (or characteristics) of data. The importance of quantitative research in psychology cannot be underestimated. In reality, quantification characterizes most psychology more accurately than the discipline's subject matter. The divide between qualitative and quantitative research is more apparent than real. Quantitative research is a form of research that uses statistical, logical, and mathematical techniques to produce numerical data and hard facts. Quantitative research focuses on quantifying (or assigning numbers to) ...read more.


Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are focused on positivism, and several qualitative researchers have used "positivist principles" to analyze messy data. Qualitative scholars, on the other hand, are far more likely to embrace the post-positivist viewpoint that whatever truth is being observed, our understanding of it can only ever be approximate and never precise. Quantitative researchers' activities illustrate the belief that, amid all the difficulties, there is a truth that can be captured. They would consider language data to be representative of reality, while the qualitative researcher would believe that language is incapable of doing so. Quantitative researchers often view reality as a process of causes and effects, and they often tend to regard research as the pursuit of generalisable knowledge. We may use qualitative on the ground where quantitative is dominant in positivism. The qualitative purpose will aid in determining the findings' reliability and validity. Positivism is a philosophical ideology that differs from theism (religious foundation of truth) and metaphysics (knowledge comes from reflecting on issues) in terms of how knowledge can be acquired. Positivism demanded that knowledge be grounded in empiricist principles. However, it came to be associated with approaches that were both crude and quantifiable. Qualitative researchers often lack their positivism affiliation. In the philosophy of science, positivism has long been the dominant viewpoint. The majority of quantitative researchers use positivism as their epistemological foundation. Positivism is based on quantifiable data that can be analysed statistically. However, it can be argued that certain qualitative research procedures represent positivist perspectives. ...read more.

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