Applying social science
The role of social research in politics, policy and practice
- Author/Editor(s):
- Dr David Byrne
- Format:
- Paperback
, 256 pages
, 234 x 156 mm
Other formats available - ISBN
- 9781847424501
- Published:
- 01 Jan 2011
£17.59 - List price: £21.99 You save: £4.40
North America customers can order this book here.
About This Book
In complex contemporary societies social science has become increasingly interwoven into the whole fabric of governance. At the same time there is an increasing recognition that attempts to understand the social world which seek to mimic the linear approaches of the conventional 'hard sciences' are mostly useless given the complex systems character of society in all its aspects. This book draws on a synthesis of critical realism and complexity theory to examine how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis. A central argument is that there is no such thing as a 'pure' science of the social and that a recognition of the inevitability of application imposes obligations on social scientists wherever they work which challenge the passivity of most in the face of inequality and injustice.
Contents
Introduction
The methodological foundations of applied social science
Constructing evidence: the development of knowledge which is to be applied
Surveying the social world: assembling knowledge as a basis for action
Evaluating: determining the worth of social interventions
Legitimating: the selective use of social science in justifying policy and practice
Consulting: the role of social research in relation to new modes of governance
Modelling: representing the world in order to understand how it works
Acting
The Academy and beyond: applied social research in the real world
Conclusion
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