Full Description
The volume provides a comprehensive review of theoretical perspectives and discourses in research methodology in social sciences related to sociology of knowledge, hermeneutics (phenomenology and ethnomethodology), neo- Marxism, structuralism, critical school, post-structuralism, post-modernism and critics of positivism. Ranging from the philosophical to the practical, it explains critical theory and cultural differences. It provides perspectives on current research practices to strengthen sociological and other types of social reasoning. It also presents new methods for gathering and analyzing data. It represents an invaluable resource for the researchers and students at graduate and post-graduate levels in all social science disciplines, particularly those studying sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and history.
Contents
Introduction: Revisiting Sociological Theory and Research Methodology.- The Natural Sciences and The Study of Man: The Problem of Their Synthesis in Contemporary Culture.- Sociology of Knowledge and Positivism.- Hermeneutic School of Thought: Towards the End of Comtean Sociology.- Structural Approach and the Ideology of Positivism.- The Positivistic Dispute in the Frankfurt Tradition.- Postmodernism: Reorientations in Social Science Theory and Methodology.- Conclusion: Towards a New Direction: Methodology, Theory and Research.
