ABSTRACT
Schumpeter concluded his address by reflecting: ‘that ideologies crystallize, that they become creeds which for the time being are impervious to argument; that they find defenders whose very souls go into the fight for them’ (358). Almost a quarter of a century later Robert Solow (1971) addressed the same issue, and reflected on the proximity of social scientific research and social sci entists’ interests, commitments, and values:
Whether the social scientist wills it or knows it, perhaps even if he fights it, his choice of research problem, the questions he asks, the questions he doesn’t ask, his analytical framework, the very words he uses, are all likely to be, in some measure, a reflection of his interests, ideologies and values [. . .]
There is probably more ideology in social science than mandarins like to admit. Crass propaganda is easy to spot, but a subtle failure to imagine that institutions, and therefore behavior, could be other than they are may easily pass unnoticed.
