ABSTRACT
Today, epistemology and research methodology have reached a very high level of theoretical sophistication, but they matter little in areas where the validity of new hypotheses can easily be judged by technical applications. Where success and failure are self-evident, it does not make much difference whether the initial reasoning was correct or whether a discovery was simply based on a lucky guess. However, in many areas of the human and social sciences, where the validity of conclusions cannot be judged by simply observing immediate outcomes, epistemology and research methodology are not superfluous; rather, they are essential to separate the wheat from the chaff and to guarantee scientific advancement.
