Summary
Contents
“This is a splendid book, providing a readable and reliable guide to a very large range of topics and literature... the author brings together, as few of us can, the details of research methodology and practice with broader philosophical perspectives and approaches.” - William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor, Newcastle University “We need researchers who are philosophically informed rather than philosophically obsessed or philosophically oppressed. With this book Malcolm Williams strikes the exact balance.” - Ray Pawson, Emeritus Professor, University of Leeds This book is an ideal introduction for any student or social researcher hoping to better understand the philosophical issues that inform social research. Williams is the perfect guide providing short focused introductions to key concepts alongside a persuasive and engaging overview of how we interpret and conduct research. The book covers everything from core research methods, to ethical concerns and an exploration of the metaphysics of social life, with each entry providing: • Clear definitions • Engaging real world examples • Up-do-date suggestions for further reading • Informative cross-referencing • Lists of key thinkers. Relevant and authoritative, this book is an indispensable introduction to the philosophy of social research.
Contingency and Necessity
Contingency and Necessity
Necessity is the claim that within particular domains some things are inevitable, whereas contingency refers to one fact being contingent upon another, or that there is an uncertainty in the relationship between two or more facts.
Social science is concerned with discovering and explaining different kinds of connections in the social world. These connections indicate relationships, some would say causal ones. But are these relationships necessary outcomes, or could things have been different? Empiricists have denied that we can ever discover necessary relations in the social world, but critical realists have argued quite the opposite, that there is natural necessity in the social world as much as the physical world. To assess these competing claims, the section explores what ...