Key Concepts in the Philosophy of Social Research

Malcolm Williams is Professor and Director of the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Prior to joining Cardiff in 2010, he was Professor of Social Research Methodology and Head of the School of Psychosocial Sciences at the University of Plymouth where he taught for 16 years.Malcolm has designed and taught modules in the philosophy of social research for 18 years at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In these he has introduced a number of innovative pedagogic techniques, such as Problem Based Learning and ‘Concept Speed Dating’, in which students take a key idea and move from table to table attempting to build conceptual links between ideas.Additionally he has taught many modules and short courses in social theory, research design, questionnaire design, scaling, sampling, scientific method and history of science.Williams has an extensive publishing record in philosophy of social research, including: Introduction to Philosophy of Social Research (with Tim May, Routledge, 1996), Knowing the Social World (with Tim May, OUP, 1998), Science and Social Science (Routledge, 2000), Making Sense of Social Research (SAGE, 2003), Philosophical Foundations of Social Research (SAGE, 2006), Teaching Quantitative Methods (with Geoff Payne, SAGE, 2011) Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research (with Gayle Letherby and John Scott, SAGE, 2012) and The SAGE Handbook of Innovations in Social Research (with W Paul Voght, SAGE, 2014).

• IntroductionCausalityComplexityContingency and NecessityEmpiricismEpistemologyEthics and MoralityExperimentsExplanationFalsificationFeminismFunctionalismGeneralisation and LawsHypothesis(es)IdealismIndividualism and HolismInductionInterpretation and MeaningLanguageLogic and TruthMaterialismMechanisms and ModelsObjectivity-SubjectivityObservationOntologyPositivismPostmodernismPragmatismProbabilityRationalityRealismRelativismSocial ContstructionStatisticsTheoryTime

This is a splendid book, providing a readable and reliable guide to a very large range of topics and literature. It covers the basics, while providing very substantial amounts of reliable guidance to those who want to pursue these issues further. A particular strength is the way in which the author brings together, as few of us can, the details of research methodology and practice with broader philosophical perspectives and approaches.