The Realist Image in Social Science

The Realist Image in Social Science PDF Author: D. Layder
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230374174
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
A constructive critique and development of the new realist philosophy of social science as it is specifically applied to sociology and social psychology. Dr Layder argues that while the realist project is a move in the right direction (i.e. to provide a viable alternative to positivism), there are certain problems and ambiguities in the realist programme as it now stands. The book confronts these problems and ambiguities in an innovative and controversial way while remaining committed to the general objectives of realism. In so doing the book attempts to go beyond current realist ideas and thereby expand its explanatory base and power.

The Realist Image in Social Science

The Realist Image in Social Science PDF Author: Derek Layder
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312035327
Category : Realism.
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description


Method in Social Science

Method in Social Science PDF Author: R. Andrew Sayer
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 0415076072
Category : Social sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Widely praised on its first publication, this second edition directly reflects new developments in the areas of philosophy and method.

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.

Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences

Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences PDF Author: Jonathan Michie
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135932263
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2165

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Book Description
This 2-volume work includes approximately 1,200 entries in A-Z order, critically reviewing the literature on specific topics from abortion to world systems theory. In addition, nine major entries cover each of the major disciplines (political economy; management and business; human geography; politics; sociology; law; psychology; organizational behavior) and the history and development of the social sciences in a broader sense.

Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Philosophy of the Social Sciences PDF Author: Patrick Baert
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745699987
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
In this ground-breaking new text, Patrick Baert analyses thecentral perspectives in the philosophy of social science,critically investigating the work of Durkheim, Weber, Popper,critical realism, critical theory, and Rorty's neo pragmatism. Places key writers in their social and political contexts,helping to make their ideas meaningful to students. Shows how these authors’ views have practical uses inempirical research. Lively approach that makes complex ideas understandable toupper-level students, as well as having scholarly appeal.

Realism and Psychological Science

Realism and Psychological Science PDF Author: David J. F. Maree
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030451437
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
The book provides an argument why realism is a viable metatheoretical framework for psychological science. By looking at some variations of realism such as scientific realism, critical realism, situational realism and Ferraris’ new realism, a realist view of science is outlined that can feature as a metatheory for psychological science. Realism is a necessary correction for the mythical image of science responsible for and maintained by a number of dichotomies and polarities in psychology. Thus, the quantitative-qualitative dichotomy, scientist-practitioner polarity and positivist-constructionist opposition feed off and maintains a mythic image of science on levels of practice, methods and metatheory. Realism makes a clear distinction between ontology and epistemic access to reality, the latter which easily fits with softer versions of constructionism, and the former which grounds science in resistance and possibility, loosely translated as criticism. By taking science as a critical activity an issue such as the quantitative imperative looses its defining force as a hallmark of science - it provides epistemic access to certain parts of reality. In addition, essentially critical activities characteristic of various qualitative approaches may be welcomed as proper science. Academics, professionals and researchers in psychology would find value in situating their scholarly work in a realist metatheory avoiding the pitfalls of traditional methodologies and theories.

Method in Social Science

Method in Social Science PDF Author: Andrew Sayer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136961917
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
In its second edition, Method in Social Science was widely praised for its penetrating analysis of central questions in social science discourse. This revised edition comes with a new preface and a full bibliography. The book is intended for students and researchers familiar with social science but having little or no previous experiences of philosophical and methodological discussion, and for those who are interested in realism and method.

Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology

Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology PDF Author: Tuukka Kaidesoja
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135014167
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This important book provides detailed critiques of the method of transcendental argumentation and the transcendental realist account of the concept of causal power that are among the core tenets of the bhaskarian version of critical realism. Kaidesoja also assesses the notions of human agency, social structure and emergence that have been advanced by prominent critical realists, including Roy Bhaskar, Margaret Archer and Tony Lawson. The main line of argument in this context indicates that the uses of these concepts in critical realism involve ambiguities and problematic anti-naturalist presuppositions. As a whole, these arguments are intended to show that to avoid these ambiguities and problems, critical realist social ontology should be naturalized. This not only means that transcendental arguments for ontological doctrines are firmly rejected and the notion of causal power interpreted in a non-transcendental realist way. Naturalization of the critical realist social ontology also entails that many of the core concepts of this ontology should be modified so that attention is paid to the ontological presuppositions of various non-positivist explanatory methods and research practices in the current social sciences as well as to new approaches in recent cognitive and neurosciences. In addition of providing a detailed critique of the original critical realism, the book develops a naturalized version of the critical realist social ontology that is relevant to current explanatory practices in the social sciences. In building this ontology, Kaidesoja selectively draws on Mario Bunge’s systemic and emergentist social ontology, William Wimsatt’s gradual notion of ontological emergence and some recent approaches in cognitive science (i.e. embodied, situated and distributed cognition). This naturalized social ontology rejects transcendental arguments in favor of naturalized arguments and restricts the uses of the notion of causal power to concrete systems, including social systems of various kinds. It is also compatible with a naturalized version of scientific realism as well as many successful explanatory practices in the current social sciences. By employing the conceptual resources of this ontology, Kaidesoja explicates many of the basic concepts of social ontology and social theory, including social system, social mechanism, social structure, social class and social status.

Making Realism Work

Making Realism Work PDF Author: Bob Carter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134495005
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
In this innovative book, theorists and researchers from various social science disciplines explore the potential of realist social theory for empirical research. The examples are drawn from a wide range of fields health and medicine, crime, housing, sociolinguistics, development theory and deal with issues such as causality, probability, and reflexivity in social science. Varied and lively contributions relate central methodological issues to detailed accounts of research projects which adopt a realist framework. Making Realism Work provides an accessible discussion of a significant current in contemporary social science and will be of interest to social theorists and social researchers alike.