The Politics of Field Research

Sociological field research faces mounting pressures to examine its theoretical and methodological basis, its political origins and effects. This book draws on the contributors' extensive fieldwork experience to address the questions raised. What is the nature of the `field'? What can or should social research offer to funding agencies, social groups, the researcher and the subjects of the research? The contributors explore the political and philosophical context of social field research in general, and examine its role in particular fields of study such as service policy, advertising and management. They investigate the ways in which social research has been used in the field through detailed examples including community care and therapeutic communities.