Real men don't collect soft data

Abstract

A common usage in discussion of social science links quantitative styles of inquiry and data collection with a 'hard' view of the world, and qualitative approaches with a 'soft' view. As with many unexamined language patterns, these distinctions serve to convey tacit attitudes about the topic under discussion: the connotations of these terms are such as to suggest that 'hard' social science is masculine and to be respected, whilst 'soft' social science is feminine and of a lower order of activity. The message conveyed in these tacit usages is that quantitative work is courageous, hard biting, hard work.