Interpretivism
Philosophical approach to sociology asserting that social reality is constructed through human meanings and interpretations, requiring qualitative methods to understand how people create and interpret social meanings.
Real World
Erving Goffman spent years observing patients in a psychiatric hospital in the 1950s, recording how they negotiated identity and resisted labels — work that could only reveal its insights through close, participatory observation rather than a questionnaire.
Exam Focus
Distinguish interpretivism from positivism by referencing 'verstehen' — examiners reward use of this term when explaining why qualitative methods are chosen.
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