What does "postpositivism" mean?

A metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism, saying that theories, background, knowledge and values of the researcher can influence what is observed and that human knowledge is based upon human conjectures.

What is a synonym for "postpositivism"?

Common synonyms include: postempiricism, postempiricism.

Postpositivism

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism, saying that theories, background, knowledge and values of the researcher can influence what is observed and that human knowledge is based upon human conjectures. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

postempiricism postempiricism

Etymology

From post- + positivism.

More for "postpositivism"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.