I suppose I shouldn't wish for anything, should I?

I am suffering from depression and had no choice but to drop out of my studies. Even though I'm supposedly convalescing, all I do is take medication, and I'm not getting any better at all. I can't even get a job.

Sociology appears to be a curious discipline. I hope that someday I might engage in meaningful intellectual exchange with knowledgeable experts in the field.

To me, this appears not as "hypothesis" or "research," but rather as literary rhetoric—specifically, "how to craft one's unsupported claims to appear legitimate."

"prepare a proposition whose truth value has been arbitrarily predetermined" and then "later devise a research perspective that allows for interpreting data collected in a manner that does not contradict the truth of that proposition."

However, the research method presented by the Japanese sociologist I mentioned earlier can be interpreted as recommending that one:

and that "research" means "verifying the truth or falsity of that proposition—regardless of whether the result differs from one's initial expectations."

This approach seems to conflate 'hypotheses' with 'propositions that can be evaluated as true or false'—particularly propositions whose truth value has been predetermined.

What interpretations regarding this methodological approach are considered mainstream within the field?

1. predetermining desired conclusions,
2. reverse-engineering hypotheses to support those conclusions,
3. iteratively modifying hypotheses until all contradictory evidence is eliminated.

Smartphones and computers are currently evolving and will likely also become these 'unconsciously ordinary things' in the future. This isn't a loss of dignity or value; it's simply that the better something becomes, the more likely it is to escape notice.

Similarly, pencils and cups are also the result of 'subtraction'; they have been refined to the point where it is difficult to imagine them being changed further. They have melted into our daily lives, becoming so commonplace that we no longer consciously notice them or the technology they contain.

Even when certain features are added to follow current trends, the design of modern smartphones encapsulates the entire history of mobile phones through 'subtraction'.

If we trace the history of mobile phones, we can see that the external battery was eliminated by being integrated, the protruding antenna disappeared, and the number of buttons steadily decreased until, finally, the phone became a glass slab with only a camera lens.

Design isn't always about adding ornamentation; sometimes it's about optimisation through subtraction.