Qualitative or quantitative 'method' - A dead end in the method discussion

摘要

This article presents the history of the quantitative and the qualitative approach as two “methods” in social sciences. The quantitative imperative was inherited from the natural sciences and an adherence to Auguste Comte’s positivist science. Though there was no place for subjectivity, psychology nevertheless adopted the positivist framework in which positive was identified with the scientific, and scientific with the discovery of natural universal laws. Qualitative methods, based on phenomenology and a hermeneutical philosophy, was a reaction towards the quantification that meant an objectification of individuals and treatment of psychological phenomena as facts deprived of their specificity: subjectivity, intentionality, and meaningfulness. The qualitative approach was largely directed to another technique for data collecting and data analysis and not against the scientific procedure itself. Marx scientific method is presented as an alternative to emphasizing empirical appearances and statistical analysis of data. An essential step in science is to go a ‘detour on thinking’ and develop the concepts explaining the inner, essential connections or machinery, different from the immediate appearances or empirical ‘facts’ on the surface, occupying so much interest in mainstream social sciences.