The Limits of Social Science: Causal Explanation and Value Relevance

by Martyn Hammersley

Overview

What forms of knowledge can social science claim to produce? Does it employ causal analysis, and if so what does this entail? What role should values play in the work of social scientists?

These are the questions addressed in this book. They are closely interrelated, and the answers offered here challenge many currently prevailing assumptions. They carry implications both for research practice, quantitative or qualitative, and for the public claims that social scientists make about the value of their work.

The arguments underpinning this challenge to conventional wisdom are laid out in detail in the first half of the book. In later chapters their implications are explored for two substantive areas of intrinsic importance: the study of social mobility and educational inequalities; and explanations for urban riots, notably those that took place in London and other English cities in the summer of 2011.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781446287507
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/25/2014
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Martyn Hammersley is Emeritus Professor of Educational and Social Research at The Open University, UK. He has carried out research in the sociology of education and the sociology of the media. However, much of his work has been concerned with the methodological issues surrounding social enquiry. He has written several books, including (with Paul Atkinson) Ethnography: Principles in Practice (Third edition, Routledge 2007), The Dilemma of Qualitative Method (Routledge, 1989), The Politics of Social Research (SAGE, 1995), Reading Ethnographic Research (Second edition, Longman 1997), Taking Sides in Social Research (Routledge, 2000), Educational Research, Policymaking and Practice, (London, Paul Chapman/SAGE, 2002), Questioning Qualitative Inquiry (SAGE, 2008), Methodology Who Needs It? (SAGE, 2011), The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice (SAGE, 2013), and The Limits of Social Science (SAGE, 2014). Website: http://martynhammersley.wordpress.com/

Table of Contents

Introduction
Causation and qualitative inquiry
The problem of explanation in social science: A Weberian solution?
On the role of values in social research
From facts to value judgments? A critique of critical realism
Can social science tell us whether a society is meritocratic? A Weberian critique
We didn’t predict a riot! On the public contribution of social science
Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

In this short book, Hammersley argues for a social science which eschews grand theorising in favour of the explanation of social phenomena... This book is not a paean to social science as it is currently practised and will be, to use Hammersley’s own word, a ‘deflationary’ read for some. If, however, you want to read something which may question your preconceptions, this book is a good place to begin.

Paul Webb