The Frankfurt School subordinated empirical research to theoretical speculation

Evidence

Before embarking on a detailed analysis of the Studies in Prejudice, certain basic attitudes of the Institut towards the proper role of empirical research should once again be made clear. From the first, it will he recalled, the Frankfurt School was critical of the reductionist tendencies implicit in inductively oriented, empirical social science. In the exploration of social phenomena, it placed theory prior to the gathering of “facts,” just as in politics it put theory before praxis. At the same time, of course, it was never satisfied with the cavalier dis missal of all empirical research, including the quantification of results, which characterized certain of the more obscurantist German sociological schools. As Fromm’s study of German workers and the Studien fiber Autoritdt and Familie demonstrated, it was anxious to use empirical methods for the enrichment, modification, and support (although never quite verification) of its speculative hypotheses. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 661

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Frankfurt School’s positivism label covered nominalist, empirical, scientific currents — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 2148; Defining rationality to include symmetry strips the theory of empirical content — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 650; The need for cognitive simplicity biased early researchers toward equating communism with fascism — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 671 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The Frankfurt School’s positivism label covered nominalist, empirical, scientific currents #contradicts (0.82) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 2148
• Real-world observation can directly seed a testable research hypothesis #contradicts (0.78)
• Defining rationality to include symmetry strips the theory of empirical content #expands (0.72) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 650
• The need for cognitive simplicity biased early researchers toward equating communism with fascism #exemplifies (0.70) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 671