Social science research which is data-based has been associated with

Data based social science research has long been associated with positivist philosophy and its faith in measurable facts.

Positivism models social enquiry on the natural sciences using empirical data.

Authoritarian mode is a way of knowing by authority, not a data based stance.

Network theory is a substantive framework, not the philosophy behind data based work.

Phenomenology stresses subjective lived experience rather than objective data.

Comte's positivism gave rise to this empirical, quantitative tradition.