In replying to Ivan Gadourek's article "Derek L. Phillips' Research to End Research" (Mens en Maatschappij, 1972), a comment is made on Gadourek's assumption that the author's frustrating experiences were the sole basis for the attack on social research. In KNOWLEDGE FROM WHAT: THEORIES AND METHODS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1971) the question of whether research really contributed to sociological knowledge was posed. Gadourek takes for granted the several research methods questioned, & states that criticisms are based entirely on personal research although a dozen other studies are referred to. A third element of Gadourek's comments is his inability to recognize & acknowledge the very problematic nature of some of the terms which he utilizes in his remarks. Gadourek, a gifted methodologist, turned to a variety of arguments in defending the possibility of sociology as a an objective science. It was the quality of these arguments that stimulated the reply. N. Hirschohn.
