Increasingly, Masters and PhD students are required, in their research proposal and in writing their thesis, to defend their choice of method. Students are required to be clear about the appropriate method to use when addressing a particular question, and to be consistent and true in methodology to the theoretical perspective that informs the research. This text offers a detailed outline of the major theoretical perspectives that colour and shape current social research; positivism, constructionism, interpretivism, critical inquiry, feminism and postmodernism. The author reveals the philosophical origins of these schools of enquiry and links the contributions of various disciplines to the practice of social research today.

Table of Contents

Preface1 Introduction: the research process2 Positivism: the march of science3 Constructionism: the making of meaning4 Interpretivism: for and against culture5 Interpretivism: the way of hermeneutics6 Critical inquiry: the Marxist heritage7 Critical inquiry: contemporary critics and contemporary critique8 Feminism: re-visioning the man-made world9 Postmodernism: crisis of confidence or moment of truth?10 ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex