Misconceptions of positivism and five unnecessary science theoretic mistakes they bring in their train

Abstract 

Background

Positivism is sometimes rejected for the wrong reasons. Influential textbooks on nursing research and in other disciplines tend to reinforce the misconceptions underlying these rejections. This is problematic, since it provides students of these disciplines with a poor basis for reflecting on epistemological and methodological perspectives. It is particularly common for positivist views on reality and causation to be obscured.

Objectives and design

The first part of this discussion paper identifies and explains the misconceptions about positivism as they appear in two influential textbooks. The second part pinpoints five mistakes these misconceptions easily result in when the researcher adopts an epistemological and methodological standpoint.

Keywords: Epistemology, Methodology, Positivism, Ontology, Cause, Reality, Explanation, Metaphysics