Mapping Paradigms of Social Sciences: application of network analysis ⋆ Dmitry Zaytsev 1 and Daria Drozdova 2 1 International Laboratory for Applied Network Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics dzaytsev@hse.ru 2 National Research University Higher School of Economics ddrozdova@hse.ru Abstract. In this paper we propose to utilize the methods of network analysis to analyze relationship between various elements that constitute any particular research in social sciences. Four levels that determine a design of the research can be established: ontological and epistemological assumptions that determine what is the reality under the study and how can we obtain the knowledge about it; a general methodological frame that define the object of the study and a spectrum of research questions we are allowed to pose; and, finally, a list of methods that we might use in order to get answers. All this levels are interrelated, sometime in very confusing way. We propose to extract a preliminary set of relations between various elements from textbooks on methodology of social and political sciences and to visualize and analyze their relations using network-analytic methods. Keywords: social science methodology, network analysis, philosophy of science, political science methodology, paradigms, quantitative and qualitative methods 1 Introduction As the social science fields are relatively well established with respect to method- ologies they use, it appears that researchers who look for the causal associations between variables use quantitative, statistical methods to prove cause-effect re- lations between, while political linguists tend to use methods such as discourse analysis to disclose cognitive manipulation by power-holders through the impo- sition of certain beliefs, defining social behavior. Are methods in social sciences just the neutral tools, or they are related to general philosophical assumptions, which impose certain research design and methodological decisions? Social research is driven not only by methods chosen but also by general methodological approaches and philosophical assumptions shared by researchers. Methodological conventions typically favor certain practical approaches associ- ated with a certain ontology and epistemology, which, at times, can lead to the ⋆ The study has been funded by the Russian Academic Excellence Project ”5-100”