ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we dealt with the significance of conceptualization for knowledge production in general and social science in particular. We established that all knowledge is conceptually mediated and thus it is impossible to make neutral observations of ‘facts’ about reality. The observations are always theoryladen. This does not determine, however, what reality is like – it exists independently of our knowledge about it. It is decisive that we do not merely think with the concepts without reflection, but that we also think about them. This is because within the social sciences, what other people hold to be true, and their concepts of reality, are an integrated part of the object of science itself. If we are not aware of this, we suffer great risk of incorporating flawed ideas and ideological delusions into social science theory formation, thus legitimizing it as science at the same time as the understanding of reality remains distorted.
