"Positivism"

The view that there is a single measurable reality and that questions of cause and effect can only be investigated empirically. The implication for the relationship between theory and research is an emphasis on theory as the result of generalization by induction from empirical observation rather than a development from ideas. Empirical tests are considered more authoritative than conceptual disputes. The problem with this position is that it limits the possibilities of empirical analysis by discouraging speculation and generalization and focuses attention on the technical verification of details.