Methods of Inquiry in Social Sciences: An Introduction

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is an introduction to scientific methods that are organized and systematic scientific approaches used by scholars for controlled investigations and experiments to efficiently solve theoretical and practical problems, generate discoveries and/or advance scientific fields. The paper presents, briefly, the development of methods of inquiry in the philosophy of science. After that it will be discussed general methods of inquiry (deduction, induction, abduction and hypothetical-deductive) and specific models of scientific inquiry in social sciences. In general, modern research fields are multifaceted, requiring diverse processes for generating new concepts, for creating new hypothesis and performing controlled experiments. Different methods of inquiry are never contradictory, often they are complementary tools that facilitate problem solving and knowledge creation within and between research fields.