Methodology is a basic concern with types of evidence, structures of analysis, and rules of judgment for validity. This article compares the research methods of phenomenology and positivism. Qualitative research is a focus on the objective use of normative logics of measurement in empirical experience. The sample evidence analyzed is taken from discourse data reported by A. R. Luria in his book Cognitive Development originally published in russian in 1974. The application of Communication Theory (phenomenology) is contrasted with that of information theory (positivism). Then, the Luria evidence is analyzed for its internal logics (deduction, induction, abduction, adduction). An external comparison is made between the Luria findings and a common diagnostic instrument for measuring language development in children.
Communication; phenomenology; cognition; positivism
