Approaches to Social Enquiry - Tapa dura

"Approaches to Social Enquiry" is a new textbook of research methods. The book provides students of the social sciences with a much needed critical review of major ways in which social research can be conducted and also a methodological framework to assist social researchers in making informed decisions about the design and execution of their research. It draws together a vast body of literature, from the philosophy of science, the philosophy of social science, social theory and research methodology, by focusing on the fundamental questions: 'What kind of science is social science?', and 'Can the methods of the natural sciences be used in the social sciences?'. Six classical and five contemporary answers to this second question are reviewed and evaluated, producing seven distinctive approaches to social enquiry - positivism, critical rationalism, interpretism, critical theory, realism, structuration theory and feminism. These are consolidated into four basic research strategies which are discussed in detail - induction, deduction, retroduction and abduction. A range of methodological issues revealed in these approaches and strategies are explored to identify the fundamental ontological and epistemological choices that need to be made by all social researchers. "Approaches to Social Enquiry" provides practitioners with a critical review of this extensive literature and its relevance for the conduct of social research.

Since its initial publication, this highly respected book has provided students with a much-needed critical review of the major research paradigms in the social sciences and the logics or strategies of inquiry associated with them. Approaches to Social Enquiry draws together a vast body of literature from the philosophy of science, the philosophy of social science, social theory and research methodology.

It focuses on questions such as:
How is new social scientific knowledge produced or existing knowledge further developed?
What status does this knowledge have and how can this be established?
To what extent can the ways of advancing knowledge in the natural sciences be used in the social sciences?
What major dilemmas do social researchers face in the development of new knowledge?
No other text offers such a clear and accessible, but still rigorous, account of these sometimes complex debates.

This second edition has been thoroughly updated to encompass the most contemporary debates about the conduct and underpinnings of social research. More attention is also paid to research practice. In addition, integrated empirical examples have been included to illustrate and extend the philosophical and theoretical discussion.

Approaches to Social Enquiry will be invaluable to advanced undergraduate and graduate students who are planning their own research or studying research methods, and to researchers across a wide range of disciplines.