L

P

PS

Ethnography

X

X

Interpretation of text (latent/manifest meaning; form & meaning)

X

X

Intuitive Guessing

X

X

X

Random Search

X

X

X

Systematic (e.g., combinatorial) Perturbation

X

X

X

Systematic observation

X

X

X

Construction of narrative

X

X

X

Exploration via metaphor

X

X

X

Interactive Social Discourse (to generate and test alternatives)

X

X

X

Chemical analysis

X

X

X

Psychological intervention (exposure to text, psychoanalysis)

X

X

X

Surveys/Questionnaires

X

X

X

Descriptive statistical/numerical analysis

X

X

X

Inferential statistical analysis (to test hypotheses)

X

X

X

Controlled experimentation

X

X

Surgical Procedures/Dissections

X

X

Numerical/computational modeling

X

X

Mathematical derivation

X

X

Objectivity (generality, replicability, minimize the influence of personal factors in the knowing process; search for constancy in change; criteria of success are social/objective, e.g., agreement, consensus, technological applicability)

Subjectivity (emphasizing uniqueness, non-replicability, personal factors in the knowing process are privileged; emphasis on change for its own sake; criteria of success are social/subjective, e.g., interesting, enjoyable, clever, unexpected, plausible, persuasive)

Logical systematicity (logical derivation of the next research question from the prior research result or process)

Plausible systematicity (plausible derivation of the next research question from the prior research result of process)

Theory as explanatory (relative precision in the relationship between theory and fact)

Theory as a lens (plausible relationship between theory and fact; but not explanation in a rigorous sense)

Epistemic progress defined as replacement of old knowledge by new (explanations construed in terms of relative truth and falsity, truth is privileged)

Epistemic progress defined in terms of the achievement of multiple and successive interpretations (no interpretation privileged over others, each valid in its own terms, if anything is privileged, it is change and multiplicity in interpretation

General agreement on canons of method & objects of study

Method & objects of study controversial

Rationalistic (privileging logic, analysis, reduction of hierarchical complexity to elements and basic mechanisms, universality, ahistoricity, parsimonious explanation)

Romantic (privileging feeling, synthesis, immersion in complexity as a totality, individuality, change, multiplicity of interpretation)