Realism assumes that the real world has hard, intangible structures that exist irrespective of our labels. The social world exists separate from the individuals perception of it. The social world exists as strongly as the physical world.
Anti-Positivism - Positivism: The Epistemological Debate
Positivists believe that one can seek to explain and predict what happens in the social world by searching for patterns and relationships between people. They believe one can develop hypotheses and test them, and that knowledge is a cumulative process.
Anti-positivists reject that observing behavior can help one understand it. One must experience it directly. They reject that social science can create true objective knowledge of any kind.
Voluntarism vs Determinism : The Human Nature Debate
Are humans determined by their environment, or do they have "free will"
Ideographic vs Nomothetic Theory: The Methodological Debate
Ideographic inquiry focuses on "getting inside" a subject and exploring their detailed background and life history. They involve themselves with people's normal lives, and look at diaries, biographies, observation.
Nomothetic relies more on the scientific method, and hypothesis testing. They use quantitative tests like surveys, personality tests, and standardized research tools.
Major Assumptions About Social Science
There have been two major intellectual traditions. The first is "sociological positivism", that applies models and methods from the natural sciences to social affairs. The second is "German idealism", which sees reality in the "spirit" or "idea", rejects the scientific methodology to understanding behavior.