Haig / Evers Realist Inquiry in Social Science

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4739-4312-4
Verlag: SAGE Publications
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 168 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Realist Inquiry in Social Science is an invaluable guide to conducting realist research. Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the first part of the book sets out the fundamentals necessary for rigorous realist research, while the second part deals with a number of its most important applications, discussing it in the context of case studies, action research and grounded theory amongst other approaches.

Grounded in philosophical methodology, this book goes beyond understanding knowledge justification only as empirical validity, but instead emphasises the importance of theoretical criteria for all good research. The authors consider both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and approach methodology from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Using abductive reasoning as the starting point for an insightful journey into realist inquiry, this book demonstrates that scientific realism continues to be of major relevance to the social sciences.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Haig, Brian Douglas

Evers, Colin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Empirische Sozialforschung, Statistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Scientific Realism
What is Realism?
Naturalistic Realism
Global and Local Realism
Realist Methodology
The Centrality of Method
Realism in the Social Sciences
Chapter 2: Evidence
Social Science Preliminaries
Empirical Evidence and Theory
Coherentism and Naturalism
Varieties of Evidence: Pragmatic Considerations
Chapter 3: Validity
Test Validity, Operational Definition, and Logical Empiricism
Holism, Realism, and Ontological Commitment
Construct Validity and Logical Empiricism
Construct Validity, Generalization in Experiments, and Epistemology
Paradigms of Validity
Coherence Justification
Chapter 4: Grounded Theory
The Abductive Theory of Method
Problem Formulation
Phenomena Detection
Theory Construction
ATOM as Grounded Theory Method
Chapter 5: Factor Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Scientific Inference
Methodological Challenges to Exploratory Factor Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Other Factor Analytic Methods
Chapter 6: Case Study
Constitutive and Regulative Rules
What is A Case?
Generalizing From Cases
A Case Study in China
Making Generalizations
Improving Knowledge of Generalizations

Über Autor(innen)

Evers, Colin
Colin Evers is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of New South Wales, having previously worked at The University of Hong Kong, Monash University, and the University of Sydney. He studied mathematics, philosophy, and education before taking his PhD in philosophy of education at the University of Sydney. His teaching and research interests are in educational administration, philosophy of education, and research methodology. He has co-edited and co-authored ten books in his various fields of interest including Knowing Educational Administration, Exploring Educational Administration and Doing Educational Administration (all written with Gabriele Lakomski and published by Pergamon/Elsevier) and many papers.

Haig, Brian Douglas
Brian Haig is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Canterbury, and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Bath. He is a theoretical psychologist who has published numerous articles in psychology, education, and philosophy journals on the conceptual foundations of quantitative and qualitative research methods, and the nature of psychological science more generally. He recently published a book entitled Investigating the Psychological World (MIT Press, 2014). He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the New Zealand Psychological Society.