Redefining the contours : survey on the new methods used in social sciences

Abstract

The two intellectual and scholarly alignments, one with constructivism, logical induction and theory-building and the other related to positivism was reflected and manifest in two differing cerebral discourses. These intellectual alignments were rooted in different domains of philosophy of science reflected through different research paradigms. The result was a deepening divide between scholars who applied either quantitative or qualitative methods in their studies. In the late 1970s an initiative led to the publication of a Handbook of Mixed Methods in the Social and Behavioral Sciences further enriching the long struggle and intellectual reticence to mix differing and opposing philosophical flagships. This paper will take this struggle as a context and explore and analyze the emerging methods and the new philosophical breakthrough in social science researching particularly in the context of the study in everyday life.