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In complex contemporary societies social science has become increasingly interwoven into the whole fabric of governance. At the same time there is an increasing recognition that attempts to understand the social world which seek to mimic the linear approaches of the conventional ‘hard sciences’ are mostly useless given the complex systems character of society in all its aspects. This book draws on a synthesis of critical realism and complexity theory to examine how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis. A central argument is that there is no such thing as a ‘pure’ science of the social and that recognition of the inevitability of application imposes obligations on social scientists, wherever they work, which challenge the passivity of most in the face of inequality and injustice.

In the social sciences today, students are taught theory by reading and analyzing the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and other foundational figures of the discipline. What they rarely learn, however, is how to actually theorize. This book is a practical guide to doing just that. This user manual for social theorists explains how theorizing occurs in what the book calls the context of discovery, a process in which the researcher gathers preliminary data and thinks creatively about it using tools such as metaphor, analogy, and typology. The book guides readers through each step of the theorist's art, from observation and naming to concept formation and explanation. To theorize well, you also need a sound knowledge of existing social theory. The book introduces readers to the most important theories and concepts, and discusses how to go about mastering them. If you can think, you can also learn to theorize. This book shows you how. The book features helpful examples throughout, and also provides practical exercises that enable readers to learn through doing.

The turn to biographical methods in social science is yielding a rich harvest of research outcomes and invigorating the relationship between policy and practice. This book uses a range of interpretive approaches to reveal the dynamics of service users' and professionals' individual experiences. It shows how biographical methods can improve theoretical understanding of professional practice, as well as enrich the learning and development of professionals, and promote more meaningful and creative practitioner-service user relationships. The book reviews applications of biographical methods in both policy and practice in a range of professional contexts, from health and social care to education and employment. In addition, it explores the impact on professional practice of social change in three main arenas: transformation from Eastern to Western types of society in Europe, major shifts in social and welfare principles, experiences of immigration and of new cultural diversity. The book critically evaluates subjective and reflexive processes in interactions between researchers, practitioners and users of services, and considers the institutional arrangements and cultural contexts which support effective and sensitive interventions and encourage change in the lives of individuals.

This sociological collection advances the argument that the concepts of “biography” and "turning point" expand our understanding of life experiences from a descriptive to a deeper, more abstract level of analysis. Theoretically, the collection addresses the manifold ways that we might refine the concept of “turning point” since Anselm Strauss introduced the notion in his 1959 book, Mirrors and Masks: The Search for Identity. The book addresses the conceptual issue of what distinguishes turning points from ages, stages, and life transitions in general and raises crucial questions about the application of turning points as a biographical research method and advances a dialogue with concepts offered by theorists from Andrew Abbott to Max Weber. Biography and turning points in Europe and America distinctive and significant due to its broad empirical database. It includes scholars’ work from nine different countries (Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, the United States and Venezuela), providing a number of contexts (from repudiating gang violence in Venezuela to constructing family narratives in lesbian lives in Britain) for thinking about how turning points relate to biography in an era following the narrative turn. The contributors articulate increasingly globalized concerns in the Western world regarding the identities and simultaneously structuration forces of gender, race-ethnicity, class, sexuality, migration, detention and religion – while they remain, nevertheless, grounded in the unique nations and communities included here. This enables sensitivity to variable constructs of significance that are associated with turning points—from bifurcation and biography to narrative and discursive analysis. In sum, this collection aims to advance a dialogue on turning points in the context of new developments in theory and method.

These eleven chapters look at sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in this country? How is British sociology seen by British scholars working in related fields, such as social history, social anthropology and demography? And how are British sociologists perceived by their colleagues working abroad, in particular in continental Europe? A concluding chapter by the President of the British Sociological Association identifies the recurring themes in these reflections.

What will California look like by the middle of the twenty-first century? Change is occurring in the state at a breathtaking pace. It will face many extraordinary challenges. Yet today most Californians believe that their elected officials are unable to develop effective public policies. The book examines the powerful undercurrents — economic, demographic, and political — shaping California at this critical juncture in its history. It focuses on three trends that are profoundly affecting the social and political landscape of the state: political distrust, racial and ethnic change, and regional diversity. The book discusses the complexities of this situation and offers a series of substantive recommendations for how California can come to terms with the unprecedented challenges it faces.

Statistical data and evidence-based claims are increasingly central to our everyday lives. Critically examining ‘Big Data’, this book charts the recent explosion in sources of data, including those precipitated by global developments and technological change. It sets out changes and controversies related to data harvesting and construction, dissemination and data analytics by a range of private, governmental and social organisations in multiple settings. Analysing the power of data to shape political debate, the presentation of ideas to us by the media, and issues surrounding data ownership and access, the authors suggest how data can be used to uncover injustices and to advance social progress

This book explores the extent to which rights to welfare are related to human inter-dependency on the one hand and the ethics of responsibility on the other. Its intention is to kick-start a fresh debate about the moral foundations of social policy and welfare reform. The book explores the concepts of dependency, responsibility, rights, and their significance for social citizenship; draws together findings from a range of recent research that has investigated popular political welfare provider and welfare user discourses; discusses, in a UK context, the relevance of the recent Human Rights Act for social policy, and presents arguments in favour of a human rights based approach to social welfare.

Every kindergarten soccer player gets a trophy. Many high schools name dozens of seniors as valedictorians — of the same class. Cars sport bumper stickers that read “USA — Number 1.” Prizes proliferate in every corner of American society, and excellence is trumpeted with ratings that range from “Academy Award winner!” to “Best Neighborhood Pizza!” In this book, the author shines a bright light on the increasing abundance of status in our society and considers what it all means. He argues that status affluence fosters social worlds and, in the process, helps give meaning to life in a large society.

The initial enthusiasm for the evidence-based policy agenda has recently been replaced with increasing scepticism. Critics point out that ‘policy-based evidence’ characterises the relationship more accurately. Analysing the role and nature of evidence in the context of UK drug policy and drawing on a range of theories of the policy process and research utilisation, this book pursues an alternative route for conceptualising the evidence and policy connection, which moves beyond zero-sum statements of evidence-based policy and policy-based evidence.

Unlike previous volumes on the subject of ‘doing’ conflict fieldwork, this book does not delineate a clear ‘how to’ toolset for undertaking conflict related research but rather requires the contributors to cast a critical eye on their own research praxis. It brings together scholars working in/on conflict, and through personal accounts of their experiences working in spaces of conflict, explores the role of emotion, violence, uncertainty, identity and positionality within the process of doing research as well as the complexity of methodological choices. This volume thus seeks to go beyond academic-centric conversations about how we can achieve rigour or handle our data collection and rather it aims to draw out the broader implications of such research efforts. By doing so it presents a more nuanced and grounded view of conflict research that is unapologetic and unafraid to demystify and declare the messiness that is inherent in the process of research in/on violence and the potential for violence of research itself.

This book develops the extended case method by connecting personal experiences among workers of the world to the great transformations of the twentieth century—the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and its satellites, the reconstruction of U.S. capitalism, and the African transition to post-colonialism in Zambia. The author's odyssey began in 1968 in the Zambian copper mines and proceeded to Chicago's South Side, where he worked as a machine operator and enjoyed a unique perspective on the stability of advanced capitalism. In the 1980s, this perspective was deepened by contrast with his work in diverse Hungarian factories. Surprised by the collapse of socialism in Hungary in 1989, he journeyed in 1991 to the Soviet Union, which by the end of the year had unexpectedly dissolved. He then spent the next decade studying how the working class survived the catastrophic collapse of the Soviet economy. These chapters, presented with a perspective that has benefited from time and rich experience, offer a theory and a method for developing novel understandings of epochal change.

While fads such as hula hoops or streaking are usually dismissed as silly enthusiasms, trends in institutions such as education, business, medicine, science, and criminal justice are often taken seriously, even though their popularity and usefulness are sometimes short lived. Institutional fads such as open classrooms, quality circles, and multiple-personality disorder are constantly making the rounds, promising astonishing new developments: novel ways of teaching reading or arithmetic, better methods of managing businesses, or improved treatments for disease. Some of these trends prove to be lasting innovations, but others—after absorbing extraordinary amounts of time and money—are abandoned and forgotten, soon to be replaced by other new schemes. In this book, the author explores the range of institutional fads, analyzes the features of our culture that foster them, and identifies the major stages of the fad cycle; emerging, surging, and purging. Deconstructing the ways that this system plays into our notions of reinvention, progress, and perfectibility, the book examines the causes and consequences of fads, and suggests ways of fad-proofing our institutions.

We are all ‘glass consumers’. Organisations know so much about us they can almost see through us. Governments and businesses collect and process our personal information on a massive scale. Everything we do, and everywhere we go, leaves a trail. But is this in our interests? This book appraises this relentless scrutiny of consumers' lives. It reviews what is known about how personal information is used and examines the benefits and risks to consumers. The book takes the debate beyond privacy issues, arguing that we are living in a world in which — more than ever before — our personal information defines our opportunities in life.

This book moves forward the narrative of service user experience and research involvement, using a sociological perspective on experiential knowledge and academic research. It examines the difficulty of having mental health knowledge accepted when it is produced outside traditional scientific settings. It examines how identity shapes knowledge production. It asks why voices which challenge contemporary beliefs about health and the role of treatment are often silenced. It considers ways of ‘doing research’ which bring multiple understandings together effectively. The dangers present in the imbalances of power are addressed frankly, as is the need to be aware of them and to develop ways of working collaboratively to address them. The book also asks a fundamental question: to what extent and to what avail may those with less power collaborate with those with more? All the writers have an academic background and most of them are also service users/ survivors. Their fields of expertise include LGB issues, racial tensions, and recovering from the shame and stigma of alcoholism. They stress the importance of research approaches which involve mutualities of respect and understanding within the worlds of researcher, clinician and service user/survivor.

This book examines the nature of participatory research in the social sciences and its role in increasing participation among vulnerable or marginalised populations. What is meant and understood by vulnerability and participation are issues that are explored in detail in the book, from both the perspectives of researchers and participants alike. Drawing on engaging, in-depth case studies, it examines the ways in which inclusion and collaboration in research can be enhanced among vulnerable participants, such as those with profound learning difficulties, victims of abuse and trauma and multiply vulnerable children and young people, and demonstrates the value and effectiveness of participatory research methods with these groups. Such methods include participatory visual and narrative approaches that help to enhance both participation and emancipation among vulnerable, marginalised populations (including young carers, people with learning difficulties, women victims-survivors of domestic violence) in research processes. The different ethical challenges that arise when conducting participatory research with these groups are also examined in detail in the book and a Participatory Model is also proposed to assist researchers in managing and using participatory research methods in their working practices. The book will be an invaluable resource for research methods students, researchers and academics in many countries who want to put participatory research methods into practice.

Evaluation has become a central tool in the development of contemporary social policy. Its widespread popularity is based on the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of policies and programmes. This book sees evaluation as an inherently political activity, as much about forms of governance as scientific practice. Using a wide range of examples from neighbourhood renewal, health and social care, and other aspects of social policy, it relates practical issues in evaluation design to their political contexts. The book considers key issues in the politics of evaluation including governance and evaluation, participatory evaluation, partnerships and evaluation, and learning from evaluation.

Population-based survey experiments have become an invaluable tool for social scientists struggling to generalize laboratory-based results, and for survey researchers besieged by uncertainties about causality. Thanks to technological advances in recent years, experiments can now be administered to random samples of the population to which a theory applies. Yet until now, there was no self-contained resource for social scientists seeking a concise and accessible overview of this methodology, its strengths and weaknesses, and the unique challenges it poses for implementation and analysis. Drawing on examples from across the social sciences, this book covers everything you need to know to plan, implement, and analyze the results of population-based survey experiments. But it is more than just a “how to” manual. This book challenges conventional wisdom about internal and external validity, showing why strong causal claims need not come at the expense of external validity, and how it is now possible to execute experiments remotely using large-scale population samples. Designed for social scientists across the disciplines, the book provides the first complete introduction to this methodology and features a wealth of examples and practical advice.

There's a growing pressure for social workers to engage with research and draw on this in practice. But why is this research important? This book provides an accessible way to think about this question. Drawing on evidence from across Europe, Asia, and the USA, it covers how research is conducted, used, and perceived. It is perfect for social work students, researchers, and practitioners, providing a detailed sketch of how research finds a place in the wider social work picture and offering opportunities and exercises that highlight how social work research is relevant in day-to-day course programmes and practice. The book will embolden a kind of scepticism, while at the same time providing the ground work for social workers to become more thoughtfully practical and practically thoughtful.

This book examines the role of participants in research, and how research ethics can be put into practice. Specifically, the book discusses the ethical regulations and guidance governing researchers in different disciplines, analyses case studies of innovative research projects where ethics have been central to the researcher-subject relationship, assesses the impact of ethics on research methods and approaches, provides useful comparisons of research conducted by professionals and service-users, and offers a unique insight into research participants' perspectives, which are so often absent in discussions of research ethics.