What are positivist and interpretivist approaches in sociology?

Positivism and interpretivism are two different perspectives that sociologists use to tackle a social problem. These perspectives will influence the type of problem that the sociologist is interested in exploring and the methods they use to achieve this. Ultimately, positivists favour a scientific, objective approach whereas, interpretivists favour humanistic, subjective approaches.As an example, take the social problem of suicide. A positivist sociologist will look at quantitative research methods to understand why people attempt suicide. They might have a look at large databases, such as the Office of National Statistics, to see if there is a correlation between factors. Perhaps the majority of people attempting suicide are having financial difficulties or suffering from stress. On the other hand, an interpretivist sociologist will use qualitative research methods. This could be through interviews with survivors or bereaved friends/family members to explain and interpret this social problem in their own words.