Social Sciences in China Review

No.2, 2018

Rethinking Social Science Research Methods from Pluralist Perspective（Abstract）

Li Jianmin

Fundamentally speaking, the difference between quantitative and qualitative research paradigms lies in the way of how to look at research object of social sciences, namely, human society. Compared with the object of natural sciences, human society is more complex, for its mystery cannot be fully revealed by any single method. Therefore, it may be more useful for researchers to take a pluralist attitude when choosing research methods. In the face of the disputes about methods, it is more meaningful to get rid of the constraint of “purity” of epistemology or methodology to take a pluralist attitude. This requires us to prevent method abuse, misuse or discrimination, so as to focus on the characteristics of research objects and targets. Only by doing so can methods be correctly selected and scientifically used.