"Science is neither theory alone nor the pure gathering of evidence in the absence of higher-order reasoning." - Phillip J. Tichenor
"The objective of applied social science research is to use data so that a decision can be made." - Herbert J. Rubin
"Social scientific research is the systematic observation of social life for the purpose of finding and understanding patterns among what is observed." - Earl Babbie
"Social scientists seek to discover the nature of human relations, just as biologists seek to understand the functioning of physical organisms or astronomers the motions of heavenly bodies."
Earl Babbi