Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences

Robert A. Stebbins, FRSC, is Faculty Professor in the Department of Sociology at theUniversity of Calgary. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the University of Minnesota.Author of 30 books and monographs as well as over 150 articles and chapters in severalareas of social science, his most recent works include: New Directions in the Theory andResearch of Serious Leisure (Edwin Mellen, 2001), Exploratory Research in the SocialSciences (Sage, 2001), and The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation: AMotivational Exploration (Venture Publications, 2002). Between Work and Leisure(Transaction Publishers) appeared in 2004 and Challenging Mountain Nature (Detselig),a study of three mountain hobbyist sports, will be published in fall, 2005. He is presentlywriting for Indiana University Press (with David Horton Smith and Michael Dover) ADictionary of Nonprofit Terms and Concepts. Stebbins was elected Fellow of theAcademy of Leisure Sciences in 1996 and, in 1999, elected Fellow of the Royal Societyof Canada.

• IntroductionWhat Is Exploration?ExploringExploration IllustratedWriting Up Exploratory ResearchThe ExplorerExplorationIts Future in the Information Age