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Health Services Research (HSR) Methods
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Positivism

The philosophy that an objective reality exists apart from human perception of reality and that reality can be understood though observation and research. Positivist methods are experimental and observation, in order to maximize objectivity and a separation between observer and subject.

Further Reading
Crabtree, B. and W. Miller. 1999. Doing Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc..

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Qualitative Research Guidelines Project 2006. Available at http://www.qualres.org/index.html.

Schutt, R.K. 2006. Investigating the Social World - The Process and Practice of Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.