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Positivist claim that any knowledge that is not empirical is unscientific, and thus invalid
Introduction
Positivist claim that any knowledge that is not empirical is unscientific, and thus invalid. Most of the physical and natural sciences have adopted positivism as their method of acquiring knowledge. However this research philosophy has not been fully accepted in the field of social sciences. Social scientists argue that “positivistic method strips context from meanings in the process of developing quantified measures of phenomena” (Gephert 1999, p. 1). Social scientist claims that they would want an inclusive research method that does not exclude the qualitative meaning from the data collected. For instance, modern psychologist can not understand how positivism can ignore the unobservable issues like emotions and thoughts or the happenings in the inside of the human mind. Viewed from a social science perspective, positivism registers more weaknesses in the realm that it tends to generalise outcomes from samples taken from specific social groups. This is not to forget that it is not always that positivism methods yield consistent results. In such a situation a more advanced approach is needed to explain the inconsistency. In addition, the fact that positivism relies on testing existing theories rather than introducing new ones is a challenge to the field of discovery.
Beside the above shortcoming, the greatest challenge to positivism comes from the alternative research philosophies, mainly the constructivism/intepretist. This research philosophy is more common with the social science world, where the researchers believe that the subject matter in social science is different from that studied in natural science (Hatch and Cunliffe 2006). Constructionists believe that past experiences and memories influence the way people perceive their external world. According to this philosophy, researchers cannot rule out bias because both they and the researched subject make interpretations based on their prior experiences. In their research methods, constructivism prefers qualitative techniques such as observation, description and questioning (Eriksson and Kovalainen 2008). The main distinction between constructivist and positivist is that the former believe in multiple realities while the latter believe that there is only one stable reality. According to constructivist, knowledge is relative to the knower, and thus, various researchers can arrive at different conclusions. Due to the concept of relative knowledge, constructivism research philosophy holds that it is not possible to know the reality, although researchers should strive towards that goal (Greener 2008).
In social science, as well as in management and organisation research, constructivism has become common on the basis that it addresses timely social, political and economic issues which positivism had hitherto ignored. However, constructivism is challenged for its epistemological relativism. Its assertion that it is not possible to know the reality undermines the noble goal of research, that of pursuing the truth. Constructivism is not concerned with ontological reality but on constructed reality.
In the case of the research at hand – employee satisfaction- a constructionist research philosophy is the best to carry out the study. Since the primary aims of an employee satisfaction is to determine employee’s response to the various motivations and rewards measures existing in an organisation, a constructivist approach offer the best design. This kind of research is at best subjective, since it seeks to measure employees feeling and thoughts. As opposed to a positivist approach which would focus on testing existing theories through quantitative techniques, a constructionist approach will focus on building new knowledge by the use of qualitative techniques, mainly questionnaires and interviews. A study on employee satisfaction is deductive rather than inductive. This kind of approach will also enable the study unearth the different factors that affect the employee’s interpretation of the existing motivation and reward framework such salary, promotion and career advancement. The constructivism emphasises on language and communication will come in handy in understanding the employees feeling towards the organisation. Qualitative approaches are more preferred since they allow the employees to be free to discuss their feeling towards a company and what they would wish the organisation to do for them.
Constructivism research philosophy will find basis in most of the employee’s satisfaction theories. The Maslow Hierarchy of needs theory argues that employee satisfaction is a general attitude that is determined by such factors as self actualisation, esteem needs, belongingness and love needs, safety needs and the biological and physical needs (Maslow 1943, p.370; Weihrich and Koontz 1999, p. 468). Such attitudes can only be understood through a qualitative study other than quantitative approach. Satisfaction in this case is the contentment that employees feel after an organisation meets their need (Robbins 1998, p.170). Again, the constructivism approach fits well with Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation (Loiseau 2011). According to Herzberg’s theory, employee satisfaction can only be understood through looking at the “the two dimensions of employee satisfaction”: motivational and hygiene (Spector 1997). These two theories acknowledge that the factors that lead to employee satisfaction, or dissatisfaction thereof, are relative and not stable meaning that a qualitative approach is best suited to understand them.
References
Marshall MN (1996) Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice Vol. 13 (6), p. 522-525
Maslow AH (1943) A theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review Vol. 50. P.370-396
Patton MQ (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods (2nd Edn). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publishers.
Resnik DB (2012) What is Ethics in Research & Why is it Important? Washington DC: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Robbins SP (1998) Organisational Behaviour: Concepts, controversies and Applications. New York: Prentice-Hall.
The “Paradise Lost” and Today’s Society
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The “Paradise Lost” and Today’s Society
In Paradise Lost, John Milton centers his discussion on the story of Adam and Eve and also Satan throughout the whole book. The book focuses primarily on the origin of sin as well as its outcome to the human nature. Milton’s story is the same as the one found in the first pages Genesis in the Bible, and he tends to have expanded it into a long, and comprehensive narrative poem. His thorough retelling of Genesis seems to have transformed the old characters present in the Bible into some epic heroes and thereby reviving the Christian tradition for the groups of readers (John, p.25). In the first lines of his work, Milton presents the theme as being “disobedience to God” and the repercussion of sin.
Though this is one of the prevalent themes that the author presents in the book, it is thus imperative for the readers to be open-minded and, also to look at this book with different viewpoints. While many readers may view Paradise Lost as a work regarding sin, the outcome of sin and disobedience to God, the book portrays to readers how it is easy for individuals to fall into sin. It also shows how simple it is to allow evil to take over human beings and the primary teaching being the importance of obedience. Though Milton’s book exists as a narration of how humans’ disobedience led to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the origin of sin and evil, there exist several other themes that are still applicable even in the today’s society in various ways.
Human beings are prone to sin, and this belief has lasted for quite some time. They tend to be easily persuaded by small things which typically makes them forget the good things at the end. This is evident From the Paradise Lost whereby disobedience and ignorance seem to be the root cause of conflict between man and God. It is clear that if Adam and Eve had obeyed God, by following his commandment of not consuming the forbidden fruit, the evil acts we experience in the society and the sinful behaviors that are prevalent could never be heard.
In the book, the theme of obedience is substantial such that the author generates two discrete paths that the reader can incline to, and then decide which would fit best. It presents the idea of whether it is better to disobey, or is it right to defy and then wait for the great things to come, just like the way Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were waiting to become wise as God (Fowler, p.32). There exist other fundamental themes in Milton’s Paradise Lost that are still evident today and resonates with the current readers even after some three hundred years ago.
These essential themes comprise of revenge, insurgency and also the temptation to doing wrong. All these themes relate to the principle of human nature that typically never changes, and this makes Milton’s articulations to be relevant to readers up to now. From the general perspective, it is clear that every individual has in his or her life at one occasion developed the urge of going against or contradicting with the high authority, for example, God, a parent or even the government. Both Satan, Adam and Eve are an excellent example of explaining this. Satan developed the urge to go against what God had planned by luring Adam and Eve to go against God. The Satan enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by lying to her that the fruit will make her more wise and beautiful. Eve developed the urge and decided to go against the rules by believing in Satan. Another thing is that every individual must have felt angry over something or someone in life and thus developed the need to contemplate revenge against the enemy. This is the same with the case of Satan as in the Paradise Lost who had projected some revenge against God for being dejected. He, therefore, sought some revenge, and he decides to use it to harm the good relationship that existed between God and man.
Satan finally accomplished his revenge by making Adam and Eve sin and thus being thrown out of the Garden (Milton, p.42). The theme of revenge portrayed in “Paradise Lost,” is also evident in today’s society, for example, it can be related to the movie called “Vendetta.” The movie depicts this theme when an individual named “Vendetta” is put under a stressing test. Vendetta’s body is used as a test to fight a severe virus, and in the process, his body form is blemished as a result of a chemical fire in the lab. He, therefore, chooses to have some revenge on the government that was conducting these laboratory tests on individuals. He did this by corrupting the system that the government was using to hide the truth from its citizens. Finally, he accomplishes his revenge by making the citizens overthrow their government. This case is just the same as to what happened in the Garden of Eden.
Also, indeed the feeling of doing what is unlawful has engulfed like every individual in life for example from stealing petty things like cookies in the supermarket or contemplating to steal some considerable amount of money. The language that Milton applies in Paradise Lost may feel onerous and to be outdated to some contemporary readers (Herman, p.23). However, these themes present in the book remain by his excellent work and thus are what makes the book to be such a relevant story for all the generations.
John Milton has tried to provide a clear explanation context in his work in attempting to distinguish between what is right and wrong. The external battle between good and evil as well as to what transpires evil is evident in today’s society as it existed during the author’s time and in the Bible. This can take the form for example of two individuals arguing or as a complicated feud among the Nazis plus the Jews in the Holocaust. The battle seems to be amid God and Satan or directly between good and evil respectively. Therefore the point of right and evil exist as a recurring theme in today’s literature and life. As described above, Milton’s work, Paradise lost is still relevant in today’s society whereby the issues presented, are still applicable in many areas.
Works Cited
Fowler, Alastair. Milton: Paradise Lost. Routledge, 2014.
Herman, Peter. Destabilizing Milton:” Paradise Lost” and the poetics of incertitude. Springer, 2016.
John, Milton. Paradise Lost. Рипол Классик, 2017.
Milton, John. Paradise lost, Book IX. Vol. 20. Retrieved from www. parad iselo st. org/8-Searc h-All. html. Accessed, 2018.
Positive psychology is an important field of study and this is illustrated in the articles
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Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is an important field of study and this is illustrated in the articles reviewed below.
Robbins, B. D. (2008). “What is the good life?: Positive psychology and the renaissance of humanistic psychology,” The Humanistic Psychologist
In this article Robbins (2008) argues that positive and humanistic psychology overlap but only in thematic context and theoretical presuppositions as positive psychology distances itself explicitly as a newer field of study. Robbins (2008) show that positive psychology is an important area of study because it has continually shown potential for bringing conceptions of happiness in several dimensions of counseling. Robbins (2008) uses a comparative approach and provides a systematic review of literature in relating humanistic and positive psychology. Positive psychology especially stands out in its approach of affirming humanistic principles and placing emphasis on happiness and optimal experience.
This article is well written and offers reliable information on positive psychology. Considering that psychologists need to bring out the best in human beings, it is necessary to dig into humanistic principles. Robbins (2008) therefore shows the synthesis between humanistic psychology and positive psychology.
Sheldon, K. and King, L. (2001). “Why positive psychology is necessary,” American Psychologist
Sheldon and King (2001) discuss positive psychology by indicating that it is a show of appreciation to human nature. Positive psychology is defined as the study of ordinary human strengths and virtues. On the other hand, a biased negative psychology limits the psychologist’s understanding of the typical functioning and success of human nature. Sheldon and King (2001) show that positive psychology is an important aspect of human science in regards to bringing out the good in people and providing a better understanding of people to the psychologist. Through positive psychology the psychologists should allow themselves to see the positive and negative in people but should only focus on the positive in order to bring out the best in people.
The article is well written and itsprovision of practical examples has made it easier to comprehend as well as find the article interesting.
Schueller, S. (2009). “Promoting wellness: Integrating community and positive psychology,” Journal of Community Psychology
Schueller (2009) highlights the importance of positive psychology with a focus to community wellness. Positive psychology and community psychology both form important areas by which psychologies strive to bring out the wellness. However, Schueller (2009) argues that the subject of connecting positive psychology to community wellbeing has long been ignored. Schueller (2009) provides a synthesis of the themes and theories of community psychology and positive psychology and their role in promoting community wellness. The article shows that the study of positive psychology is important because positive psychology defines and enhances human wellness in both philosophy and psychology.
The article made an interesting read especially through showing that the individual human values of happiness can be translated into the entire community. This shows a further importance of studying positivepsychology.
Sin, N. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). “Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis,” Journal of Clinical Psychology in Session
Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) article reports on the findings of a meta-analysis study whose purpose was to answer the research question as to whether positive psychology interventions enhance well being and alleviate depressive symptoms. The study involved the use of 51 positive psychology interventions on 4,226 subjects. The findings of the study showed that the psychological well being of the intervened individuals improved significantly while the depressive symptoms were significantly decreased. Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) show that the individuals who were motivated and expected the intervention to make them happier actually benefited in contrast to their peers who were less motivated. The article therefore provides a background for clinical practice as psychologists try to establish the best methodologies in cultivating positive feelings, positive behaviors and positive cognitions. Studies should focus on several dimensions of human nature and create positive psychology interventions that can address these dimensions.
The article is reliable and present viable findings as a result of conducting primary research to investigate the effect of positive psychology in accentuating wellness in human beings.
Conclusion
Positive psychology is a newer area of psychology studies but considering that early studies have shown it to be an effective psychology intervention method, further research should be done for the purpose of creating the best psychological intervention for human psychological problems.
References
Robbins, B. D. (2008). “What is the good life?: Positive psychology and the renaissance of humanistic psychology,” The Humanistic Psychologist, 36: 96-112.
Schueller, S. (2009). “Promoting wellness: Integrating community and positive psychology,” Journal of Community Psychology, 37(7); 922-937
Sheldon, K. and King, L. (2001). “Why positive psychology is necessary,” American Psychologist, 56(3): 216-217
Sin, N. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). “Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis,” Journal of Clinical Psychology in Session, vol. 65(5): 467-487