Formannahmen

Formannahmen is a concept used in German-language scholarship to describe the set of assumptions about the form or structure of phenomena that underlie a theory, model, or empirical inquiry. The term combines Form (form or structure) with Annahme (assumption). In this sense, Formannahmen are the pre-theoretical commitments about the shape of explanations, data patterns, causal relations, or organizational schemes that researchers bring to their work.

In philosophy of science and related fields, Formannahmen help explain how methodological choices influence interpretation. They capture the implicit bets about the form of relationships, the kind of data deemed relevant, or the organization of phenomena into categories. For example, the assumption that a relationship is linear is a formannahme of many statistical approaches, while the belief that social phenomena can be decomposed into independent factors is a formannahme in several social sciences.

Researchers may analyze Formannahmen to reveal how these underlying forms guide hypothesis generation, data collection, and the evaluation of evidence. Reassessing or making explicit Formannahmen can lead to alternative theoretical trajectories and open room for different explanations or models.

The term is not universally standardized, and its exact scope varies by discipline. Critics emphasize the importance of articulating Formannahmen clearly and testing their validity, arguing that hidden or unexamined forms can bias conclusions. Related ideas include methodological assumptions, model form, and epistemic commitments.