ABSTRACT
The problem of the various schemes of thought that might be utilised in social science research can be viewed in the context of a larger debate between natural and social science. Is it possible to apply the label of ‘science’ when it comes to knowledge of human facts? The problem is a complex one, but essentially has its foundation in the difference between objects in the sense of empirical phenomena independent of humans and humans in the
sense of objects of research. Clearly, when humans are the objects of their own study the relationship between intellectus and res becomes much more problematical. Not only is the behaviour of humans complex and cultural contexts so diverse, but the researchers themselves could be said to be actively influencing the behaviour and predictability of their object of research inasmuch as their own scientific investigation is part of the behaviour being investigated. This merging of the intellectus and the res can deprive social ‘science’ of its criteria of validity since it risks failing the test of being a true ‘critical investigation’.
