Social Research and Science: Composition and Foundations (Methodological Analysis)

The article discusses the nature and specifics of social science. At the same time, the author, on the one hand, reflects on existing social research, therefore analyzes several cases, on the other hand, discusses the foundations of social science, which were highlighted by famous social scientists and philosophers, Z. Bauman, B. Latour, N. Luhmann, V. Fedotova. The author, following Fedotova, comes to the conclusion that two methodologies and approaches are implemented in the social sciences – natural science and humanitarian; An analysis of their structure and operation is proposed. In addition to this pattern, the populational and cultural-historical nature of sociality is pointed out. The boundaries of research into the foundations of social science are discussed.