I shall to discuss the power of theories to shape our conceptuali>ation of psychological issues. I will contrast two theories: contextualism and positivism. I argue that the ontological principles of contextualism are more helpful than positivism for conceptuali>ing what culture is, and the relation between culture and psychology. Moreover, the ontological principles of contextualism lead to ep...

On the face of it, the idea of formal re-inquiry has clear roots in positivism, in the idea that social science is a progressive enterprise of rejecting falsehood and building truth. Either qualitative or quantitative methodology can be part of the positivist project. Taking a position of pluralism in the militant middle, I argue that both positivism and humanism have a great deal to offer cons...

After Christians, Muslims represent the largest religious grouping in the UK. According to census statistics, there are approximately 1.6 million Muslims in the UK, approximately 54% of who were born outside of the UK. There has been emerging interest in the use of traditional healers by South Asians in the UK. Early studies by Aslam3 and Healey & Aslam4 focused upon health seeking behaviour am...

This paper revisits the debate between positivism and its alternatives in the field of information systems from a philosophical point of view. It will argue that the heart of the debate is the ontological difference between the views of reality as observer-independent versus observer-dependent. The logical axiom of the excluded third (tertium non datur) informs us that two contradictory options...