FUNDAPOL: FOUNDATIONAL AND ANTI FOUNDATIONAL

Foundational Ontology

Focuses on developing explanatory and predictive models, separating empirical from normative questions, and aiming to make causal explanations in social science.

Positivism

Emphasizes directly observed phenomena, causal relationships, and the development of quantitative explanatory and predictive models.

Realism

Asserts the existence of deep structural relations between social phenomena, the independence of the world from our knowledge of it, and the causal powers of social phenomena.

Anti-Foundational Ontology

Challenges foundational ontology by focusing on unique aspects, local stories, and individual sentiments rather than generalizations.

Interpretivist

Emphasizes understanding the meanings actions have for agents, rejects objective analysis, and uses qualitative methods to explore social phenomena.

Constructivism

Views the world as socially constructed, emphasizes the role of social context in explaining phenomena, and interrogates the formation of preferences and their relation to powerful groups' strategic aims.