Michel Foucault's Achievements in Methodology of the Social Science Research

This paper seeks to study the new qualitative methodologies, due to the importance of the method in science in general, and the humanities and social sciences in particular. Hence, considering Michel Foucault's position as a thinker, it has been trying to extract and study his specific methodology from his works and opinions. Using the documentary method and taking notes tool, the desired findings were obtained from Foucault's works as well as works that have been written about his thoughts. First, Foucault's fields of thought follow up among thinkers and philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Althusser; then, two specific Foucault’s methods, called genealogy and paleontology, were discussed. Finally, Foucault's ideas and methodological achievements were criticized and evaluated.