Table 2. Some of the many different philosophies that underpin social research, presented along a positivist–subjectivist continuum. The table demonstrates how the philosophies influence research strategies and methodologies, etc. (based on Crockett 1950, Brandt 1957, Feyerabend 1962, 1981a, 1981b, Husserl 1962, 1965, Marcuse 1965, Ricoeur 1978a, 1978b, 1978c, Sneed 1982, Burgess 1983, Brown 1987, 1998, Bourdieu 1991, Eger 1993, 1997, Yeung 1997, Moran 2000, Hellman 2001, Chakravartty 2004, Mayer 2006, and on extensive discussion with 12 researchers from different social science backgrounds at Aberdeen and Aberystwyth University). Positivist Approaches to Social Science Subjectivist approaches to Social Science Philosophy Extreme Positivism Structural Realism Critical Realism Transcendental Realism Hermeneutics Nominalism Extreme Subjectivism Core Ontological Assumption Reality as a concrete structure Reality as a concrete process Reality as an interplay between a concrete structure and influenced by perception Reality is both a projection of human imagination and a concrete structure. Reality as a social construction Reality as a realm of symbolic exchange Reality as a projection of human imagination Methodological Criteria External Validity, Researcher led, Quantitative, Empirical External and Internal Validity, Researcher/participant led, Quantitative and Qualitative, Empirical External and Internal Validity, Researcher/participant led, Quantitative and Qualitative, Theoretical and empirical External and Internal Validity, Researcher/participant led, Quantitative and Qualitative, Theoretical and empirical Internal Validity, Participant led, Qualitative, Theoretical and empirical Internal Validity, Participant led, Qualitative and Quantitative, Theoretical and empirical Internal Validity, Participant led, Qualitative, Theoretical and empirical Types of Questions Demographic and project related Demographic and project related to structure of reality Demographic and project related, acknowledging human perception of reality Demographic and project related to human understanding of reality Study of participant behavior Participant response related to understanding of words Participant response related to project Research Strategy Experiments, Surveys, Action research, Case studies Ethnography, Case studies, Grounded theory Survey Ethnography, Case studies, Grounded theory Experiments, Ethnography, Case studies, Grounded theory Documents, Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, Advertising, Ethnography, Case studies, Grounded theory Ethnography, Case studies, Grounded theory Method of data collection Questionnaires, observation Interactive interviews, Questionnaires Interactive interviews, Questionnaires, which may use qualitative questions Interactive interviews, Questionnaires Structural semiotics, Discourse analysis, Psychoanalytic criticism, Interviewing, Ethnographic techniques Interviews, Participant observation Interviews, participant observation Type of Analysis Statistical methods Statistical methods Statistical methods Statistical methods, Inferential statistical analysis phenomenological analysis Dialectical process involving three “moments:”: Social historical analysis, Formal analysis, Interpretation–Reinterpretation Content analysis, Thematic analysis, Discourse analysis, Interpretive phenomenological analysis Content analysis, Thematic analysis, Discourse analysis, Interpretive phenomenological analysis Potential Interpretation Generalization, inductive and deductively valid arguments Hypothetico-deducto mode Generalization, although does not allow contingent generalizations to be treated as necessary causal mechanism, Hypothetico-deducto mode Abstraction and retroduction, Generalization, although does not allow contingent generalizations to be treated as necessary causal mechanisms. Hypothetico-deducto mode Process of retroduction, a posteri reasoning, use of analogies, Generalization, although does not allow contingent generalizations to be treated as necessary causal mechanisms No Generalization No Generalization as there can be no universal truth No Generalization