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THE TELEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONThis dimension refers to the fact that social science, as a typical humanactivity, is goal-driven. It is, therefore, not surprising that a whole range ofdefinitions of the possible goals of a discipline are found in the literature. Thetraditional distinction between theoretical and practical goals is still useful inclassifying these goals.• Theoretical goals such as theory construction or theory building,understanding human behaviour better, explanation and prediction ofhuman behaviour and gaining insight into social reality.• Practical goals such as the therapy or healing of the human being,improving the quality of life and emancipating the oppressed.Within the project perspective, it is usual to refer to specific project objectivessuch as:• Theoretical: Exploratory, descriptive and explanatory (which includesevaluation and prediction studies) research.• Practical: To provide information, diagnose and solve problems andplanning and monitoring social programmes.Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.zaTHE EPISTEMOLOGICAL DIMENSIONVarious definitions of the epistemic ideal of science and scientific disciplineshave been put forward in the history of science, e.g.• The search for truth (e.g. Plato and Aristotle)• Certain and indubitable knowledge (e.g. Descartes)• Empirical adequacy (e.g. Van Fraassen)• Problem solving (e.g. Kuhn)• Wisdom/insight (e.g. Maxwell)It seems inappropriate to claim that a specific project or study will result intruth or even more far-fetched — certain and indubitable knowledge. At thislevel, we are more inclined to talk of the validity, demonstrability, reliability orreplicability of our research findings.THE METHODOLOGICAL DIMENSIONWithin the context of a discipline, the methodological dimension is taken torefer to more or less high-level methodological paradigms or schools, such as:• Positivism and logical positivism• Phenomenology or the interpretivist approach• Critical theory (neo-Marxism)• Karl Popper’s critical rationalism, and• Scientific realism19