Problem Selection in the Social Sciences: Methodology

Abstract

Sociological methodology has rules for testing hypotheses more severely, and for the formulation of theories rich in content. This article presents rules for problem selection by surveying cases from sociology's past and present. Among these rules are treating a seemingly small question as a subproblem of a larger one, expanding existing problem structures by adding new subquestions, revising a problem structure by a new overarching question, picking out contradictions between theories and research findings, and replacing false assumptions behind questions.