BEYOND POSITIVISM - HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVES ON THEORY AND RESEARCH INHEALTH-EDUCATION

The purpose of this paper is to expand the set of ideas about what con stitutes 'theory' in public health education. The paper presents a rev iew of seven functions of theory: prediction, explanation, making assu mptions explicit, understanding, sense-making, sensitization and criti que. The first two uses fall under the domain of positivist research; the latter five are drawn from theorizing conducted in the humanities, as in historical, legal, literary and philosophical research. The pap er argues that a broader conception of theory and research, one that m oves beyond the parameters of the positivist paradigm, may help to bri dge the gap between theory and practice in health education.