Dominant Epistemological Presuppositions in the Use of the Cross-Cultural Survey Method [and Comments and Reply

Abstract

This article subjects to critical analysis the epistemological conceptions which have dominated the way cross-cultural survey research has been carried out and propagated within the anthropological discipline. These conceptions may be characterized as inductivist and empiricist. This orientation is critized primarily from the point of view of Popper's concept of science. In this context, problems of concept formation and theory construction as well as Galton's problem are discussed.