Epistemology and methodology of social research - critical reflections on our research practices

This article is an attempt to address - drawing on the authors' own experiences in research and teaching, and in dialogue with international literature - the epistemological and methodological assumptions underlying the sociological research, and the challenges to which they give rise in order to consider them in different contexts. The case made here emphasizes a low level of epistemological and methodological reflection in sociological research and a series of recurring characteristics such as multi-method strategies, predominance of qualitative analysis and the heritages of positivism/neo-positivism and of the epistemological vector. Also, some openings in the dominant epistemological and methodological models are presented, particularly regarding the hypothetical-deductive system and the one which proposes to break with common sense. Final remarks point to the need for not only recognizing the multiparadigmatic character of sociology, but also highlighting the multiple analytical procedures available to sociology for building its research practices.

Sociology; Epistemology; Methodology