ABSTRACT
Allsocialscientistsapproachtheirsubjectviaexplicitorimplicit assumptionsaboutthenatureofthesocialworldandthewayin whichitmaybeinvestigated.First,thereareassumptionsofan ontologicalnature-assumptionswhichconcerntheveryessence ofthephenomenaunderinvestigation.Socialscientists,for example,arefacedwithabasicontologicalquestion:whetherthe ·reality'tobeinvestigatedisexternaltotheindividual-imposing itselfonindividualconsciousnessfromwithout-ortheproductof individualconsciousness;whether'reality'isofan'objective' nature,ortheproductofindividualcognition;whether'reality'isa given·outthere'intheworld,ortheproductofone'smind.
