Phenomenological and positivist approaches Essay Example for Free

Phenomenological and positivist approaches Essay The research seeks to study in-depth the Kuwaiti family by determining the impact of working parents on the socialization of their children based on the perceptions of the parents. In doing so, the research seeks to identify and describe the contemporary defining features of the Kuwaiti family, as contribution to the wider research on the family, being made in different countries. The study also looks into the child rearing practices of Kuwaiti families with both parents working and with one parent assuming the role of a full-time carer. The research draws the perceptions of parents on the socialization process of their children in the context of the family structure, with both parents working or with one parent serving as full-time carer, as well as on the effect of hiring foreign nannies on the socialization of their children. To achieve the purpose of the study, the research process utilizes approaches and methods selected to support the collection and analysis of appropriate sufficient and accurate data. Research Design The study uses the phenomenological approach, which applies to investigative attempts to understand the perspectives or views of selected participants regarding social realities (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe Lowe 1991; Morris 2006). Understanding the phenomenological approach better requires a comparison with the positivist approach, which lies at the other end of the spectrum opposite of the phenomenological approach. The comparison is not intended to undermine one approach over the other but to explaining the phenomenological approach and justifying the appropriateness of employing this approach to the present study. The table below summarizes the distinctions between the phenomenological and positivist approaches. Source: (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe Lowe 1991; Morris 2006) The distinctions show that the phenomenological approach is applies to investigations that consider human or social interest in providing in-depth explanation and deriving meaning of phenomenon as distinguished from the positivist approach of focusing on facts, theories or principles, and hypothesis testing. Phenomenology is the appropriate approach of the present study because the purpose of the investigation is to draw in-depth understanding of the contemporary Kuwaiti family in terms of the relationship between the working status of both parents and the socialization of their children. The study is subjective because it is interested in the perceptions of parents over their working status and the effects on the socialization of their children. The research process is grounded on social interest and subjectivity. The present study employs qualitative research, which involves the derivation of accounts or descriptions from the participants or respondents to provide an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon subject of the study (Creswell 2003). Again, to understand qualitative research and to justify its appropriate application to the present study, the table below summarizes the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research.