Weber, Popper and the Methodology of the Social Science: a Comparison from a Critical Rationalist Perspective

Max Weber and Karl Popper have both written about the logic and methodology of the social sciences. A number of Western scholars have compared the views of these two thinkers on issues related to the methodology of the social sciences. The aim of the present paper is to present a critical comparative analysis of the efficacy of the two models for the methodology of the social sciences by Weber and Popper. There is evidence that suggests that Popper was aware of Weber’s views on the social sciences and its methodological characteristics. It would, therefore, not be farfetched to surmise that Popper has developed his own methodological model for the social sciences in light of what he had perceived to be the shortcomings of Weber’s model. The main argument of the present paper is that Popper’s methodological model for the social sciences provides a much more effective theoretical tool for social sciences researchers than that of Weber’s.