In this paper I discuss the role of philosophical theories (intended as coherent sets of philosophical claims) in social research methods textbooks, and in particular in qualitative methods textbooks. The theses that I defend in the paper are two: (1) Qualitative methods textbooks typically contain the claim that philosophical theories determine research methods. (2) The determination relationship between philosophical theories and research methods that is typically assumed in qualitative methods textbooks is potentially problematic. In the first part of the paper I qualify and provide empirical evidence for (1). The empirical evidence consists of the analysis of a random sample of 90 qualitative methods textbooks. In the second part of the paper I critically assess the determination claim contained in textbooks and argue that this claim is both philosophically and educationally problematic