Lecture note on positivism vs. post-positivism: for MBA students

Lecture note on positivism vs. post-positivism: for MBA students

 

Highlight 4 main ideas of positivism and offer 3 practice advices for part-time MBA students doing dissertation projects; also do so for post-positivism. Finally, discuss how your positivism-based practices advices and that of post-positivism differ.

Positivism: 4 main ideas

Positivism is a research philosophy that treats scientific, empirical observation as the only legitimate source of knowledge and seeks law-like generalisations similar to the natural sciences.wikipedia+2

Four central ideas are:

1.    Empiricism and observability: Only knowledge derived from sensory experience and observable, measurable phenomena counts as scientific. Metaphysical or purely speculative claims are rejected as non-scientific.simple.wikipedia+2

2.    Unity of scientific method: The same logical, hypothesis-testing methods used in natural sciences should apply to social sciences. This implies a single, unified logic of inquiry across disciplines.sciencedirect+1

3.    Objectivity and value-neutrality: The researcher can (and should) stand apart from the object of study; science should be as free as possible from values, politics, and personal bias.wikipedia+2

4.    Deduction, prediction and generalisation: Knowledge advances by deducing hypotheses from theory, testing them empirically, and aiming to produce general, law-like statements that explain and predict phenomena (nomothetic knowledge).simple.wikipedia+1

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Three practice advices for part-time MBA students (positivism-based)

Given your part-time MBA context and interest in rigorous, business-relevant research, a positivist stance suggests:

1.    Start with a clear, testable model and hypotheses

o   Translate your management question into specific variables (e.g., “board independence”, “dividend payout ratio”, “firm performance”) and state directional hypotheses.

o   Use existing theory (e.g., agency theory, stakeholder theory) to justify expected relationships, then design your study to test them.sciencedirect

2.    Prioritise structured, quantitative data and robust measurement

o   Where possible, use numerical data from financial statements, stock databases, surveys with validated scales, or secondary datasets.

o   Pay careful attention to reliability (consistency) and validity (does the measure capture what you intend?) and document your operational definitions clearly.sciencedirect

3.    Design for generalisability and replicability

o   Use sampling strategies that allow you to make claims beyond your specific sample (e.g., random or stratified samples of listed firms, REITs, or industries).

o   Describe your procedures so another researcher could, in principle, repeat your study; report effect sizes, confidence intervals, and limitations transparently.wikipedia+1

These practices fit well with dissertation topics like “Does board independence affect dividend policy among Singapore REITs?” or “How does ESG disclosure relate to cost of capital for HK-listed firms?”, where you can construct variables and test hypotheses.

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Post-positivism: 4 main ideas

Post-positivism keeps the commitment to scientific inquiry and objective truth but relaxes the strict assumptions of classical positivism, acknowledging that knowledge is provisional and influenced by the researcher.ebsco+1

Four central ideas are:

1.    Critical realism – reality exists but is only imperfectly knowable

o   Post-positivists assume an external reality, but accept that our observations and theories capture it only approximately and are always open to revision.wikipedia

2.    Researcher bias is inevitable and must be managed, not denied

o   Unlike positivism’s ideal of a fully detached observer, post-positivists argue that theories, values, and background knowledge shape what and how we observe. Objectivity is pursued by recognising and correcting for bias, not pretending it doesn’t exist.e-ir+1

3.    Conjectural knowledge and fallibilism

o   Knowledge claims are treated as conjectures that are “warranted” by evidence but remain provisional; they can be modified or withdrawn in light of new data or better explanations.wikipedia

4.    Methodological pluralism – quantitative plus qualitative

o   Post-positivists accept both quantitative and qualitative methods as valid, often combining them (mixed methods) to better approximate complex realities and check findings through triangulation.youtubewikipedia

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Three practice advices for part-time MBA students (post-positivism-based)

For the same MBA dissertation context, a post-positivist stance suggests:

1.    Build a theoretical model but treat it as provisional and critique it

o   Start with theory-driven hypotheses as in positivism, but explicitly discuss the assumptions and boundaries of your model (e.g., “This agency-theory model assumes rational actors and may miss cultural influences in family firms”).

o   Plan to refine or qualify your conclusions based on what the data show, including unexpected patterns.ebsco+1

2.    Use mixed methods and triangulation to offset bias and enrich understanding

o   Combine quantitative analysis (e.g., regression on financial data) with qualitative elements (e.g., interviews with managers, document analysis, case studies).

o   Use triangulation: check whether different data sources, methods, or analysts point to similar conclusions, thereby strengthening warranted claims.youtubewikipedia

3.    Make your positionality and value assumptions explicit

o   Reflect on how your professional background, investment interests, or cultural context might shape your research questions, measures, and interpretation (e.g., your focus on dividend stocks might bias you toward certain performance metrics).

o   Include a short reflexivity section in your methodology chapter describing these influences and the steps you took to mitigate their distorting effects (e.g., peer debriefing, audit trails, seeking disconfirming evidence).e-ir+1

This suits topics like “How do Singapore REIT managers balance short-term investor pressure and long-term asset quality?” where numbers alone may miss important nuances.

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How positivism-based and post-positivism-based practice advices differ

The differences are less about “right vs wrong” and more about how confidently you claim objectivity, how you treat theory, and how you use methods.

1. Attitude toward objectivity and bias

• Positivism-based advice: Assumes you can largely separate yourself from the object of study; emphasises standardised instruments, blind procedures, and statistical controls to achieve value-neutrality.simple.wikipedia+1
• Post-positivism-based advice: Accepts that complete neutrality is impossible; instead of denying bias, you systematically expose and manage it through reflexivity, triangulation, and critical scrutiny of your assumptions.e-ir+1

2. Role and status of theory and hypotheses

• Positivism: Theory yields precise, testable hypotheses; the goal is to confirm or falsify them and contribute to general laws. Unexpected findings are often treated as noise or model misspecification to be corrected.sciencedirect
• Post-positivism: Theory still guides hypotheses, but results are seen as provisional conjectures. Unexpected findings are opportunities to refine theory, add boundary conditions, or reconceptualise variables.ebsco+1

3. Methodological choices

• Positivism: Strong preference for quantitative, structured designs (surveys, experiments, secondary data) with large samples to support generalisation. Qualitative data, if used, are secondary and highly structured.sciencedirect
• Post-positivism: Encourages mixed methods as standard practice: quantitative for breadth and pattern detection, qualitative for depth, context, and mechanism exploration. The aim is a more robust, albeit still imperfect, picture of reality.youtubewikipedia

4. Claims you can make in your dissertation

• Positivist-style conclusions: “The data support the hypothesis that X is positively associated with Y among Singapore-listed firms, suggesting a generalisable relationship consistent with agency theory.”
• Post-positivist-style conclusions: “The findings provide warranted support for a positive association between X and Y in this context, while recognising that measurement limitations, sample constraints, and my own assumptions mean this relationship should be treated as provisional and context-sensitive.”

In practice, many MBA dissertations sit somewhere in between: they use quantitative hypothesis testing (positivist core) but add discussion of limitations, context, and some qualitative insight (post-positivist sensibility).

** A collection of lecture notes on the subject of research methods for MBA students, 2026 June

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.