The politics of social research
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The politics of social research
Sage, 1995
- : pbk
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Includes bibliographical reference and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Is social research political? Should it be political? What are the implications of the politicization of social research?
Recent years have seen a growing range of challenges to the idea that research should be governed by the principle of value neutrality. Critical, feminist, antiracist and postmodernist analyses have argued that social research is intrinsically political. In this stimulating and often controversial book, Martyn Hammersley weighs the arguments offered in support of these positions. He considers the fundamental issues that the debate raises about the nature of social research, its political dimensions and its contemporary relevance. At the same time he provides a robust defence of value neutrality as a constitutive principle of social research, and makes a reassessment of the role of research in modern societies.
Praise for The Politics of Social Research
`For anyone interested in the nature of social research, who has enough grasp of the issues to access the text, this book is a must' - British Journal of Educational Psychology
`All in all Hammersley has produced a text which provides us with much to think about. As I have said, certain chapters will, no doubt, attract considerable debate. Almost all of the chapters could stand alone but the broad political theme used to bring chapters and topics together works well almost always' - Local Government Studies
`Not only is Hammersley a leading exponent of sociological research, he is also a key writer and thinker on the problems of undertaking research. This collection, some of which has been published elsewhere and some not, therefore is a welcome addition to the literature on social research... interesting and well-argued' - Disability and Society
Table of Contents
Introduction
Paradigm Lost? Positivism and its Afterlife in the Philosophy of Social Research
A Critique of `Critical' Research
On Feminist Methodology
Research and `Anti-Racism'
A Critical Case
Writing Wrong
An Assessment of Textual Radicalism
Is Social Research Political?
Social Research, Policy-Making and Practice
Reflections on the Enlightenment Paradigm
The Liberal University and its Critics
by "Nielsen BookData"