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Arab Journal of Administration المجلة العربية للإدارة

Abstract

The research discusses what are the major similarities and differences in how a public administrator committed to the positivist perspective and one committed to the interpretivist or phenomenological perspective would approach the task of understanding and acting in public organizations? This paper considers how the two different theories, positivism and interpretivism, influence the way of thinking and practicing in the field of public administration. The research discusses the core concepts of positivism and interpretivism and presents the role of positivist research in public administration, which dominated the establishment of public administration during the Progressive era, as well as the limitations associated with it. In addition, the research provides a better understanding of the historical context in which other new alternative theories were presented in the field, including interpretivism. The article highlights their similarities and differences before it concludes with how these theories are related to the practice in public administration. Introduction: There are many theories of knowledge that have shaped study and practice in public administration. These theories have different approaches to generate knowledge in order to provide a better explanation or understanding of social phenomena. The quality of knowledge generation in public administration was the ultimate focus of many articles in the field (Adams, 1992; Bailey, 1992; Hummel, 1991; McCurdy and Cleary, 1984; Ventriss, 1991; White, 1999). Some questioned the rigor of research in public administration to produce knowledge because it lacks the use of positivist approach (McCurdy and Cleary, 1984). Others believed that alternative approaches, such as interpretive theory, provide deep contributions to the body of knowledge in the field (Hummel, 1991). In fact, there is a traditional tension between the normative and the factual dimensions of positivist and interpretivist theories of research. This paper discusses how the two different theories, positivism and interpretivism, influence the way of thinking and practicing in the field of public administration. Before the discussion regarding the core concepts of positivism and interpretivism, the article presents the role of positivist research in public administration, which dominated the establishment of the field during the Progressive era, as well as the limitations associated with it. This introduction provides a better understanding of the historical context in which other new alternative theories

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