Realist Inquiry in Social Science

Realist Inquiry in Social Science PDF Author: Brian D. Haig
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1473943124
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
Realist Inquiry in Social Science is an invaluable guide to conducting realist research. Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the first part of the book sets out the fundamentals necessary for rigorous realist research, while the second part deals with a number of its most important applications, discussing it in the context of case studies, action research and grounded theory amongst other approaches. Grounded in philosophical methodology, this book goes beyond understanding knowledge justification only as empirical validity, but instead emphasises the importance of theoretical criteria for all good research. The authors consider both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and approach methodology from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Using abductive reasoning as the starting point for an insightful journey into realist inquiry, this book demonstrates that scientific realism continues to be of major relevance to the social sciences.

Realist Inquiry in Social Science

Realist Inquiry in Social Science PDF Author: Brian D. Haig
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1473943124
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
Realist Inquiry in Social Science is an invaluable guide to conducting realist research. Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the first part of the book sets out the fundamentals necessary for rigorous realist research, while the second part deals with a number of its most important applications, discussing it in the context of case studies, action research and grounded theory amongst other approaches. Grounded in philosophical methodology, this book goes beyond understanding knowledge justification only as empirical validity, but instead emphasises the importance of theoretical criteria for all good research. The authors consider both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and approach methodology from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Using abductive reasoning as the starting point for an insightful journey into realist inquiry, this book demonstrates that scientific realism continues to be of major relevance to the social sciences.

A Realist Philosophy of Social Science

A Realist Philosophy of Social Science PDF Author: Peter T. Manicas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139457063
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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Book Description
This introduction to the philosophy of social science provides an original conception of the task and nature of social inquiry. Peter Manicas discusses the role of causality seen in the physical sciences and offers a reassessment of the problem of explanation from a realist perspective. He argues that the fundamental goal of theory in both the natural and social sciences is not, contrary to widespread opinion, prediction and control, or the explanation of events (including behaviour). Instead, theory aims to provide an understanding of the processes which, together, produce the contingent outcomes of experience. Offering a host of concrete illustrations and examples of critical ideas and issues, this accessible book will be of interest to students of the philosophy of social science, and social scientists from a range of disciplines.

Realism and Social Science

Realism and Social Science PDF Author: R. Andrew Sayer
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761961246
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Realism and Social Science offers an authoritative guide to critical realism and an assessment of its virtues in comparison with other leading traditions in social science. It is illustrated throughout with relevant and accessible examples.

The Science of Evaluation

The Science of Evaluation PDF Author: Ray Pawson
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446290980
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Evaluation researchers are tasked with providing the evidence to guide programme building and to assess its outcomes. As such, they labour under the highest expectations - bringing independence and objectivity to policy making. They face huge challenges, given the complexity of modern interventions and the politicised backdrop to all of their investigations. They have responded with a huge portfolio of research techniques and, through their professional associations, have set up schemes to establish standards for evaluative inquiry and to accredit evaluation practitioners. A big question remains. Has this monumental effort produced a progressive, cumulative and authoritative body of knowledge that we might think of as evaluation science? This is the question addressed by Ray Pawson in this sequel to Realistic Evaluation and Evidence-based Policy. In answer, he provides a detailed blueprint for an evaluation science based on realist principles.

The Foundations of Social Research

The Foundations of Social Research PDF Author: Michael Crotty
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446283135
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Choosing a research method can be bewildering. How can you be sure which methodology is appropriate, or whether your chosen combination of methods is consistent with the theoretical perspective you want to take? This book links methodology and theory with great clarity and precision, showing students and researchers how to navigate the maze of conflicting terminology. The major epistemological stances and theoretical perspectives that colour and shape current social research are detailed and the author reveals the philosophical origins of these schools of inquiry and shows how various disciplines contribute to the practice of social research as it is known today.

Hermeneutic Realism

Hermeneutic Realism PDF Author: Dimitri Ginev
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319392891
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This study recapitulates basic developments in the tradition of hermeneutic and phenomenological studies of science. It focuses on the ways in which scientific research is committed to the universe of interpretative phenomena. It treats scientific research by addressing its characteristic hermeneutic situations, and uses the following basic argument in this treatment: By demonstrating that science’s epistemological identity is not to be spelled out in terms of objectivism, mathematical essentialism, representationalism, and foundationalism, one undermines scientism without succumbing scientific research to “procedures of normative-democratic control” that threaten science’s cognitive autonomy. The study shows that in contrast to social constructivism, hermeneutic phenomenology of scientific research makes the case that overcoming scientism does not imply restrictive policies regarding the constitution of scientific objects.

American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science

American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science PDF Author: John Henry Schlegel
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807864366
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
John Henry Schlegel recovers a largely ignored aspect of American Legal Realism, a movement in legal thought in the 1920s and 1930s that sought to bring the modern notion of empirical science into the study and teaching of law. In this book, he explores individual Realist scholars' efforts to challenge the received notion that the study of law was primarily a matter of learning rules and how to manipulate them. He argues that empirical research was integral to Legal Realism, and he explores why this kind of research did not, finally, become a part of American law school curricula. Schlegel reviews the work of several prominent Realists but concentrates on the writings of Walter Wheeler Cook, Underhill Moore, and Charles E. Clark. He reveals how their interest in empirical research was a product of their personal and professional circumstances and demonstrates the influence of John Dewey's ideas on the expression of that interest. According to Schlegel, competing understandings of the role of empirical inquiry contributed to the slow decline of this kind of research by professors of law. Originally published in 1995. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Evaluation for the 21st Century

Evaluation for the 21st Century PDF Author: Eleanor Chelimsky
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 0761906118
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 558

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Book Description
Evaluation for the 21st Century features thoughtfully written introductions to each of the main sections that provide a context and synthesis of the various evaluators' chapters. After reading this groundbreaking book, researchers and practitioners will be able to recognize these new developments in evaluation as they encounter them, place them in context, and incorporate them into their own evaluation professions and practices.

Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research

Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research PDF Author: Nick Emmel
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446292789
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
All qualitative researchers sample, yet methods of sampling and choosing cases have received relatively little attention compared to other qualitative methods. This innovative book critically evaluates widely used sampling strategies, identifying key theoretical assumptions and considering how empirical and theoretical claims are made from these diverse methods. Nick Emmel presents a groundbreaking reworking of sampling and choosing cases in qualitative research. Drawing on international case studies from across the social sciences he shows how ideas drive choices, how cases are used to work out the relation between ideas and evidence, and why it is not the size of a sample that matters, it is how cases are used to interpret and explain that counts. Fresh, dynamic and timely, this book is essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students engaging with sampling and realism in qualitative research.

Social Science Research

Social Science Research PDF Author: Anol Bhattacherjee
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781475146127
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.