Methods of social research are directly linked to different visions of

Methods of social research are directly tied to differing visions of social reality, that is, to ontology.

How a researcher conceives reality shapes whether quantitative or qualitative methods are chosen.

Laboratory experiments are one technique, not the underlying vision that guides method choice.

Simulations model processes artificially and are only a specific tool, not a worldview.

Virtual reality is a technology, unrelated to the philosophical basis of method selection.

Positivism and interpretivism represent two contrasting visions of social reality.