Description
This unique book pairs outstanding clarity of detail with an accessible approach, exploring the three great methodological challenges in social research: how to think about causality, objectivity, and generality. Presented in accessible bite-sized episodes, it offers a rich diet of practical illustrations, enabling the reader to absorb the variety and breadth of realist inquiry. How to Think Like a Realist is written in Ray Pawson's customary style; informed, bravely non-conformist and with a splash of mischief. Pawson offers a dextrous rebuttal to the threats that social inquiry faces in an era of post-truth. The text provides crucial guidance for those looking to better understand the central tenets of social science research methodology in the twenty-first century.
This innovative book will be an essential resource for students and early career researchers as well as experienced academics and practitioners from across all social science disciplines. Its breadth of coverage and accessibility makes it an ideal text for teaching social research methodology at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
About the Author
Ray Pawson, Emeritus Professor of Social Research Methodology, University of Leeds, UK
Reviews
'A masterful work. How to Think Like a Realist: A Methodology for Social Science consists of three parts, on the important but disputed concepts of causality, objectivity, and generality. Each part includes brief "episodes" filled with examples, insight, scholarship, and wit. Accessible enough for undergraduates but rich enough for seasoned scholars, this book deserves widespread attention. Even if you disagree in places, you will be engaged, enlightened, and entertained.' -- Melvin M. Mark, The Pennsylvania State University (retired), US
'This book is clear. It is vibrant. And it is brilliant. What it has to say matters to philosophers, to practitioners and to those who are affected by the social science we practice.' -- Nancy Cartwright, Durham University, UK and University of California at San Diego, US
'Accessible, thoughtful, provocative and entertaining, this book is a must read for every student in social sciences or human services, every policy maker and program designer, every commissioner - and every practitioner - of research or evaluation. It is a very readable introduction to the fundamental understandings without which our work may lead others astray.' -- Gill Westhorp, Charles Darwin University, Australia
'Realist methodology is blossoming, and realist studies are burgeoning. This is no flash in the pan. Ray Pawson's work is both the product and the source of this intellectual evolution. The book makes the proposition that realist principles underpin science in all its guises and makes tiny, tentative steps in tracing the common realist tenets. If he is correct, we will be reading this manifesto for many years to come.' -- Frans L. Leeuw, Maastricht University, the Netherlands
Book Information
ISBN 9781035321094
Author Raymond Pawson
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Publisher Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
