Unlike positivists, interpretivists do not believe that society can be studied in a scientific way. They believe that sociologist should strive to discover meanings and motives behind people's actions. They do not treat everyone as the same and so don't believe in cause and effect. They think individual act differently in situations.
Micro sociologists such as interpretivists look at small-scale action in society rather than society as a whole. They look at individuals and believe they control their own destiny.
Interpretivists tend to deal with qualitative data, this is data that is presented in words - a description or an in-depth account. Sociologists, such as interpretivists, can then discover meanings and motives behind actions.
This form of data tends to be more valid.
Interpretivists strive for subjectivity in their work. This means a value judgement is being made about something. The information given is based on an individual's personal view and there is opinion, not fact. Interpretivists would not wish to be objective as this would prevent them from discovering meanings and motives for actions.
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