Abstract
This paper is an attempt to extend the meaning of the concept of indeterminacy for the human sciences. The authors do this by coining the term ‘methodological indeterminacy’ and arguing that indeterminacy is better understood when linked to specific methodological techniques. Paradoxically, while specific research techniques demonstrate that the issue of indeterminacy is complex, yielding the possibility of ‘types’ and ‘degrees’, it does not eliminate the problem of ‘translation’ first raised by Quine. However, the authors go on to argue that, from a research perspective, indeterminacy can and must be approached in such a way that it is possible to ‘reduce’ cases of it, even though never completely eliminating it in the human sciences.
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Miller, S.I., Fredericks, M. Some notes on the nature of methodological indeterminacy. Synthese 88, 359–378 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413553
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413553