Misconceived relationships between logical positivism and quantitative research Chong Ho Yu, Ph.D., D. Phil. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the 2001 American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA Published in Research Method Forum, 2003 Included in the book Philosophical foundations of quantitative research methodology (2006, Laham, MD: University Press of America) Correspondence: Chong Ho Yu, Ph.D., D. Phil. Email:
[email protected] Website: http://www.creative-wisdom.com/pub/pub.html Logical positivism and Quantitative Research 2 Abstract Although quantitative research methodology is widely applied by social scientists, there is a common misconception that quantitative research is based upon logical positivism. This misconception leads to misguided disputes between qualitative and quantitative researchers. This article points out that the polarities between the two are unnecessary, and the richness and continuity of “research traditions” is therefore proposed as a replacement for the incommensurability in the Kuhnian “paradigm.” Further, this article examines the relationship between quantitative research and eight major notions of logical positivism: (a) verification, (b) pro-observation, (c) anti-cause, (d) downplaying explanation, (e) anti- theoretical entities, (f) anti-metaphysics, (g) logical analysis and (h) frequentist probability. It is argued that the underlying philosophy of modern quantitative research does not subscribe to logical positivism. Associating an outdated philosophy with quantitative research