Understanding Social Research: Perspectives on Methodology and Practice (Social Research and Educational Studies Series)

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Series Editor’s Preface......Page 9
1 Introduction......Page 10
References......Page 16
Introduction......Page 17
The Academy......Page 19
The Age of Enlightenment......Page 22
Modern Times......Page 24
Postmodern Perspectives......Page 27
Feminist Perspectives on Research......Page 29
References......Page 30
3 Telling a Story about Research and Research as Story-telling: Postmodern Approaches to Social Research......Page 33
Some Features of a Postmodern Approach......Page 36
Text......Page 39
Pre-text......Page 42
Inter-text......Page 43
A Postmodern Approach to Research: an Example......Page 44
A Postmodern Approach to Research: Some Questions......Page 45
References......Page 46
Breaking with Traditions of Knowledge-making......Page 48
Feminist Theory and the Challenge to Orthodoxies......Page 49
Feminist Approaches to Epistemology......Page 53
What are the Implications for Feminist Method?......Page 56
References......Page 59
Introduction......Page 61
Public Choice Theory......Page 64
Individualism......Page 65
Rationality......Page 68
Finale......Page 73
References......Page 74
A Challenge......Page 76
To Have or Not to Have—A Family, That Is......Page 78
The Sexual Division of Labour......Page 80
The Working Woman......Page 83
Marriage and Divorce, Economics Style......Page 86
Reflections......Page 87
References......Page 89
Background......Page 92
The Domain of Information Systems......Page 93
Information Systems Research......Page 94
Information Systems Development......Page 97
Potential Difficulties from this Multi-disciplinary Nature of Information Systems......Page 99
Borrowing Concepts and Methods—Advantages and Problems......Page 101
Acknowledgments......Page 102
References......Page 103
The Context of Nursing Research......Page 105
Critical Issues......Page 106
Professionalization of Nursing......Page 107
Epistemological Pluralism......Page 108
A Specific Qualitative Approach: Grounded Theory......Page 109
Triangulation......Page 112
Where to from Here?......Page 113
References......Page 114
Introduction......Page 116
Social Work in the Academy......Page 117
Resistance......Page 118
Research Practice......Page 119
Dissonance......Page 122
Praxis......Page 123
Managerialism......Page 124
Conclusion......Page 125
References......Page 126
Introduction......Page 128
Two Group Comparisons......Page 130
Individuals vs Populations......Page 133
Conclusions......Page 138
References......Page 139
Setting the Scene......Page 143
The Role of Research......Page 144
Social Work Practitioner as Researcher......Page 146
Exploring Differences of View......Page 149
Research as Partnership......Page 151
Theorizing Social Work Practice......Page 153
References......Page 156
12 Qualitative Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis: Examinations and Schools......Page 159
The Research Project......Page 160
Choosing Cases......Page 161
Negotiating Access......Page 163
Ethical Concerns......Page 166
Fieldwork Relations......Page 168
Observations......Page 169
Theory Development......Page 170
Contextualising these Accounts......Page 172
Conclusion......Page 173
References......Page 174
The Theoretical Basis of Research......Page 176
The Discovery and Development of Grounded Theory......Page 182
The Procedures of Grounded Theory......Page 186
Stage 2. Transcription of Data......Page 187
Stage 3. The Development of Categories......Page 188
Stage 4. Saturate Categories......Page 192
Stage 6. Theoretical Sampling......Page 193
Stage 7. Axial Coding......Page 194
Stage 8. Theoretical Integration......Page 195
Conclusion......Page 196
References......Page 197
What is Action Research?......Page 199
Action Research in Information Systems development......Page 201
An Action Research Project......Page 203
Advantages and Problems of Action Research in Information Systems......Page 208
Issues......Page 209
References......Page 210
Introduction......Page 212
A Participant Observation Study of EIS development......Page 213
Discussion......Page 214
Epistemological and Methodological Issues......Page 215
Practical and Ethical Issues......Page 219
References......Page 221
Introduction......Page 223
The Casino......Page 224
States of Mind......Page 227
The Lucas Critique......Page 228
Verification and Falsification......Page 229
Predictability......Page 230
Reflections......Page 231
References......Page 234
Notes on Contributors......Page 235
Index......Page 238