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CHAPTER 6

Research Methodology and Fallacy in Humanities and

Social Sciences Research

Kiran Pandya

Research in social sciences can be traced back to the 17th century. It is well-documented in literature
that industrialization and capitalism gave boost to social science research (Alastalo, 2008). The
writings on social research methods are documented from the 1920s and they discuss the development
of methods in the context of the United States. The Chicago School and Columbia University are
credited with developing and discussing social research methods, especially during the interwar
period. Later, important developments in quantitative and qualitative methods took place. While,
the origins of qualitative research are attributed to the Chicago School, its contribution to survey
research methods cannot be undermined. The decades of the 1940s to 1960s saw the emergence
and use of survey research methods in social sciences. The terms ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ were
not used in common parlance, in those days, but the debate between the superiority of a case study
(qualitative) method over statistical (quantitative) methods, and vice versa were quite popular. It was
only in the beginning of the 1970s decade that the distinction between qualitative and quantitative
research came to the forefront. The divide, debate, and discussions of qualitative and quantitative
research approaches brought forth the epistemological foundations of these two approaches. Because
of the radical differences in epistemological foundations of qualitative and quantitative research, it can
also be said that qualitative approach is a paradigm shift from the quantitative approach. Albeit, the
Chicago School considers both these approaches to social research as complementing each other.

The following aspects are covered here:
• The paradigms of research in social science and humanities,

• Research designs,
• Methods of data collection,
• Reliability, validity and standardization in social science research, and
• Fallacies in the context of both — qualitative and quantitative research.

The Paradigms of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

Bryman (2008a) discusses paradigms in social research by quoting the American Historian of Science,
Thomas Kuhn, that scientific revolutions result in developments in sciences, while replacing the old
paradigm by the new.

In the context of social research methods, the differences in epistemological foundations of
quantitative and qualitative research, represents two paradigms. If both these methods are employed
for undertaking social science research, it is also known as the mixed-methods approach. The mixed-
methods approach represents intra-paradigmatic differences but according to the Chicago School,
they complement each other (Alastalo, op. cit.).

The quantitative approach is associated with positivism. The concept of positivism was given by
Auguste Comte and it is based on the premise of circular dependence of theory and observation in

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