82 LISA CLAIRE WHITTEN
obscured; in the words of Edkins (2006: 507), by perpetuating “grand narratives” in
situations of conflict, positivism disregards “the vulnerability of life itself”. In its
non-directive nature, the post-positivist research proposed above does not require one
to assume a position in an overarching explanation of the ‘Northern Ireland problem’.
Rather it offers the opportunity to explore testimonies of those who are often
marginalised in analysis of Northern Irish, such as prisoners, low-ranking
paramilitary members and residents neighboring murals.
Since the official end of ‘the Troubles’, ‘peace-walls’ have expanded: in the early
1990s the province had eighteen, by 2009 there were eighty-eight (McAtackney 2011:
82). Peace walls are erected either by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the
Northern Ireland Office or Belfast City Council. In the words of the Community
Relations Council (2009: 4) the “barriers have not so much ended inter-community
tension as changed its form”. Although the post-positivist research question proposed
does not directly address the prevalence of peace-walls it does recognise the
significance of the visual environment as a locus of coercion and subjection. In
addition to allowing marginalized voices to be heard, a post-positivist research design
would also give greater insight into the dynamics of power operating in the current
policing of Belfast’s typography than its positivist counterpart. For this reason, in the
scenario proposed, a post-positivist epistemology would be a more fruitful foundation
for research.
Conclusion: Positivist Flaws and Post-Positivist Possibilities
Positivism was interpreted by some as a “rallying cry” for opponents of metaphysics,
in pursuing a “systematic” epistemology for the social sciences (Adcock, Bevire and
Stimson 2007: 2). Yet, it is the position of this article that positivism is ironically
founded on a metaphysical faith. Firstly, to infer causality between two entities is to
adopt a metaphysical posture – to trust the two are related. Secondly, and more
crucially, it is a metaphysical assertion to argue that the only genuine knowledge is
that determined by scientific method. One cannot test a belief in the transcendence of
science. Positivism as it has been outlined and assessed here has been found to be
theoretically contradictory and, through the hypothetical research scenario, concluded