The following dimensions of research in the social sciences are emphasized in this definition:

• The sociological dimension: scientific research is a joint or collaborative activity;

• The ontological dimension: research in the social sciences is always directed at an aspect or
aspects of social reality;

• The ideological dimension: as a human activity, research in the social sciences is intentional
and goal-directed, its main aim being the understanding of phenomena;

• The epistemological dimension: The study of truth

The aim is not merely to understand phenomena, but rather to provide a valid and reliable
understanding of reality; arid

• the methodological dimension: research in the social sciences may be regarded as objective
by virtue of its being critical, balanced, unbiased, systematic, and controllable.

It must be emphasized that these five dimensions of research are just that: five aspects of the same
process. This should be kept in mind when each dimension is discussed separately in the pages
that follow.1:-Research can be discussed from various perspectives. From the sociological
perspective, one is interested in highlighting the social nature of research as a typical
human activity — as praxis.2:-The ontological dimension emphasizes that research always
has an object — be it empirical or non-empirical.3:-When one looks at research within the
ideological perspective, one wants to stress that research is goal-driven and purposive. Research
is not a mechanical or merely automatic process, but is directed towards specifically human goals
of understanding and gaining insight and explanation.4:-The epistemological dimension focuses
on the fact that this goal of understanding or gaining insight should always be further
clarified in terms of what would be regarded as “proper” or “good” understanding.
Traditionally scientists have pursued ideals of truth and wisdom. More recently other ideals —
problem solving, verisimilitude, validity, and so on — have been put forward.5:-Finally, the
methodological dimension of research refers to the ways in which these various ideals may
be attained. It also refers to such features as the systematic and methodical nature of research
and why such a high premium is placed on being critical and balanced in the process of
research.

THE SOCIOLOGICAL DIMENSION

At the level of research in a discipline, the following aspects of the sociological dimension are
important:

• The existence of networks or research communities

• Mechanisms of social control

• Issues of research ethics

• The influence of ideologies and interests

At the project level, the sociological dimension is manifested in decisions relating to:

• Individual versus team projects

• The differences between contract versus self-initiated research

• Issues of project supervision and management

• Planning and control of time and resources (people/apparatus/finance)

THE ONTOLOGICAL DIMENSION

At the disciplinary level, the ontological dimension refers to discussions and disputes as to the
various ways in which research domains can be defined and classified, e.g.

• Behaviourist versus cognitive approaches

• Realist versus instrumentalist or nominalist approaches

• Individualist versus holist approaches

A similar, but much more concrete and specific discussion is found at the level of projects
where the ontological dimension refers to a proper classification of the unit of analysis. Are
we, for example, studying –

• Individuals

• Groups or collectivities

• Interactions, or

• Objects?

THE TELEOLOGICAL DIMENSION

This dimension refers to the fact that social science, as a typical human activity, is goal-driven. It
is, therefore, not surprising that a whole range of definitions of the possible goals of a discipline
are found in the literature. The traditional distinction between theoretical and practical goals is still
useful in classifying these goals.
• Theoretical goals such as theory construction or theory building, understanding human behaviour
better, explanation and prediction of human behaviour and gaining insight into social reality.

• Practical goals such as the therapy or healing of the human being, improving the quality of life
and emancipating the oppressed.

Within the project perspective, it is usual to refer to specific project objectives such as:

• Theoretical: Exploratory, descriptive and explanatory (which includes evaluation and prediction
studies) research.

• Practical: To provide information, diagnose and solve problems and planning and monitoring
social programmes.

THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL DIMENSION

Various definitions of the epistemic ideal of science and scientific disciplines have been put
forward in the history of science, e.g.

• The search for truth (e.g. Plato and Aristotle)

• Certain and indubitable knowledge (e.g. Descartes)

• Empirical adequacy (e.g. Van Fraassen)

• Problem solving (e.g. Kuhn)

• Wisdom/insight (e.g. Maxwell)

It seems inappropriate to claim that a specific project or study will result in truth or even more far-
fetched — certain and indubitable knowledge. At this level, we are more inclined to talk of the
validity, demonstrability, reliability or replicability of our research findings.

THE METHODOLOGICAL DIMENSION

Within the context of a discipline, the methodological dimension is taken to refer to more or less
high-level methodological paradigms or schools, such as:

• Positivism and logical positivism

• Phenomenology or the interpretivist approach

• Critical theory (neo-Marxism)

• Karl Popper’s critical rationalism, and

• Scientific realism
At the project level, three general methodological approaches are usually distinguished in the
social sciences:

• The quantitative approach

• The qualitative approach

• The participatory action approach

A decision to follow one or a combination of these methodologies, does of course, entail further
more specific choices regarding the various methods of:

— data collection (questionnaires/ interviews/ documents);

— data analysis (statistical/ mathematical/ interpretative); and

— inference (inductive/ deductive/ retroductive).

This concludes our discussion of the five dimensions as viewed from the disciplinary and project
perspectives. In the final section, these various perspectives are integrated into a model of social
sciences research.