Quantitative research and knowledge construction: epistemological foundations, limitations, and implications in the applied social sciences

Abstract

This article critically examines the epistemological foundations of quantitative research within the applied social sciences, with a specific focus on management and accounting. The analysis proceeds from the premise that quantification is not merely a collection of analytical techniques but constitutes a distinct mode of knowledge production. This mode is grounded in ontological and epistemological assumptions that shape the construction, interpretation, and validation of the phenomena studied. The present study draws upon perspectives from the epistemology of the social sciences and the sociology of quantification, with particular emphasis on the contributions of Guba and Lincoln, Morgan, Flyvbjerg, Desrosières, and Law, who critically examine the neutrality, objectivity, and interpretive boundaries of quantitative methods. Methodologically, this research employs a theoretical, qualitative approach, grounded in a critical literature review that synthesizes both classical and contemporary sources to analyze the paradigms, assumptions, and implications of quantification. This article presents an epistemological framework for quantification, structured around three analytical regimes: instrumental, reflexive, and constitutive. Each regime constitutes a distinct method for relating measurement to social reality. The analysis demonstrates that quantitative research, through processes such as measurement, modeling, and standardization, produces specific modes of apprehending reality characterized by reduction, abstraction, and decontextualization. Although these features facilitate generalization, comparability, and analytical rigor, they also limit the capacity to address the interpretive and contextual dimensions of social phenomena. Moreover, the increasing significance of data, driven by digitalization, intensifies these dynamics. This article offers a novel perspective by conceptualizing quantitative research as an epistemological regime of knowledge construction and by presenting an analytical model that integrates paradigmatic, epistemological, and methodological dimensions. The proposed framework enables a more critical, reflexive, and theoretically grounded understanding of quantitative research in the applied social sciences.