ABSTRACT
Applied social science research is sometimes seen by its practitioners as both an empirical and an empiricist undertaking, empirical in concerning itself with what is happening in society and empiricist in holding that in some sense the facts speak for themselves. An inquiry such as the General Household Survey, for example, presents factual data about social conditions in British society, and could be seen as an undertaking not requiring any input from social science. Social scientists, it is true, sometimes push this point too hard, suggesting that the explication of the theoretical complexities is itself a sufficient activity, and looking down upon mere empirical investigation. ‘Crime’ definition may pose particular difficulties because of its normative dimension, but similar problems arise with more straightforward concepts. Theory in social science consists of a set of interrelated propositions, or hypotheses, which are set out in advance of the inquiry being conducted and are tested by means of empirical research.
