Politics of Social Research addresses itself to the question of the behavior appropriate for social scientists conducting research sponsored by or otherwise involving government agencies--our own and those of other countries. The simple patriotism that suggests that social scientists, like other citizens, should not hesitate to put their skills at the service of their government is questioned here and by practitioners. This is partly because of outright disagreement with government policies and partly because of the threat to independence posed by massive government funding. As this book plainly shows, the problems are especially acute for social scientists working abroad, where they are viewed as de facto representatives of American policy while at the same time they must accommodate to the policies of foreign governments. Beals begins by describing specific and precipitating problems--Project Camelot and other research undertakings that met with difficulties--and a general review of the kinds of problems people engaged in social research encounter (concealment and misrepresentation, nationalism and colonialism, protection of subjects, etc.) These problems are then placed in historical and ideological perspective. This reveals differing views of the relationship between social scientists and government and the meanings and uses of various kinds of research. The book also contains a survey of the particular problems encountered by research social scientists in each of the major areas outside the United States. First published in 1969, and here reissued with a new introduction, this volume remains essential reading for all who are concerned with improving the responsible use of social research by governments, while safeguarding the freedom and integrity of the research and the researcher. Ralph L. Beals was chairman of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Alan Woolfolk is director, core curriculum at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta.

Is social research political? Should it be political? What are the implications of the politicization of social research? Recent years have seen a growing range of challenges to the idea that research should be governed by the principle of value neutrality. Critical, feminist, antiracist and postmodernist analyses have argued that social research is intrinsically political. In this stimulating and often controversial book, Martyn Hammersley weighs the arguments offered in support of these positions. He considers the fundamental issues that the debate raises about the nature of social research, its political dimensions and its contemporary relevance. At the same time he provides a robust defence of value neutrality as a constitutive principle of social research, and makes a reassessment of the role of research in modern societies. Praise for The Politics of Social Research For anyone interested in the nature of social research, who has enough grasp of the issues to access the text, this book is a must' - "British Journal of Educational Psychology "All in all Hammersley has produced a text which provides us with much to think about. As I have said, certain chapters will, no doubt, attract considerable debate. Almost all of the chapters could stand alone but the broad political theme used to bring chapters and topics together works well almost always' - "Local Government Studies "Not only is Hammersley a leading exponent of sociological research, he is also a key writer and thinker on the problems of undertaking research. This collection, some of which has been published elsewhere and some not, therefore is a welcome addition to the literature on social research... interesting and well-argued' - "Disability and Society "

This important book examines how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis.

Writing about ideas, John Maynard Keynes noted that they are "more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else." One would expect, therefore, that political science--a discipline that focuses specifically on the nature of power--would have a healthy respect for the role of ideas. However, for a variety of reasons--not least of which is the influence of rational choice theory, which presumes that individuals are self-maximizing rational actors--this is not the case, and the literature on the topic is fairly thin. As the stellar cast of contributors to this volume show, ideas are in fact powerful shapers of political and social life. In Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research, Daniel Béland and Robert Henry Cox have gathered leading scholars from a variety of subdisciplines in political science and sociology to provide a general overview of the theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues raised by social science research on ideas and politics. Throughout, they hone in on three central questions. What is the theoretical basis for studying ideas in politics? What are the best methods? What sort of empirical puzzles can be solved by examining ideas and related phenomena such as discourse, policy paradigms, and framing processes? In sum, this is a state-of-the-art academic work on both the role of ideas in politics and the analytical utility that derives from studying them.

"More than ever before, modern social scientists require a basic level of mathematical literacy, yet many students receive only limited mathematical training prior to beginning their research careers. This textbook addresses this dilemma by offering a comprehensive, unified introduction to the essential mathematics of social science. Throughout the book the presentation builds from first principles and eschews unnecessary complexity. Most importantly, the discussion is thoroughly and consistently anchored in real social science applications, with more than 80 research-based illustrations woven into the text and featured in end-of-chapter exercises. Students and researchers alike will find this first-of-its-kind volume to be an invaluable resource."--BOOK JACKET.

Political science and sociology increasingly rely on mathematical modeling and sophisticated data analysis, and many graduate programs in these fields now require students to take a "math camp" or a semester-long or yearlong course to acquire the necessary skills. Available textbooks are written for mathematics or economics majors, and fail to convey to students of political science and sociology the reasons for learning often-abstract mathematical concepts. A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research fills this gap, providing both a primer for math novices in the social sciences and a handy reference for seasoned researchers. The book begins with the fundamental building blocks of mathematics and basic algebra, then goes on to cover essential subjects such as calculus in one and more than one variable, including optimization, constrained optimization, and implicit functions; linear algebra, including Markov chains and eigenvectors; and probability. It describes the intermediate steps most other textbooks leave out, features numerous exercises throughout, and grounds all concepts by illustrating their use and importance in political science and sociology. Uniquely designed and ideal for students and researchers in political science and sociology Uses practical examples from political science and sociology Features "Why Do I Care?" sections that explain why concepts are useful Includes numerous exercises Complete online solutions manual (available only to professors, email david.siegel at duke.edu, subject line "Solution Set") Selected solutions available online to students

Social scientists have long known that political beliefs bias the way they think about, understand, and interpret the world around them. In this volume, scholars from social psychology and related fields explore the ways in which social scientists themselves have allowed their own political biases to influence their research. These biases may influence the development of research hypotheses, the design of studies and methods and materials chosen to test hypotheses, decisions to publish or not publish results based on their consistency with one’s prior political beliefs, and how results are described and dissemination to the popular press. The fact that these processes occur within academic disciplines, such as social psychology, that strongly skew to the political left compounds the problem. Contributors to this volume not only identify and document the ways that social psychologists’ political beliefs can and have influenced research, but also offer solutions towards a more depoliticized social psychology that can become a model for discourse across the social sciences.

How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to "other sciences." Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major--albeit controversial--source of public funding for them.

Politics of Social Research addresses itself to the question of the behavior appropriate for social scientists conducting research sponsored by or otherwise involving government agencies-our own and those of other countries. The simple patriotism that suggests that social scientists, like other citizens, should not hesitate to put their skills at the service of their government is questioned here and by practitioners. This is partly because of outright disagreement with government policies and partly because of the threat to independence posed by massive government funding. As this book plainly shows, the problems are especially acute for social scientists working abroad, where they are viewed as de facto representatives of American policy while at the same time they must accommodate to the policies of foreign governments.

Unravelling Research is about the ethics and politics of knowledge production in the social sciences at a time when the academy is pressed to contend with the historical inequities associated with established research practices. Written by an impressive range of scholars whose work is shaped by their commitment to social justice, the chapters grapple with different methodologies, geographical locations and communities and cover a wide range of inquiry, including ethnography in Africa, archival research in South America and research with marginalized, racialized, poor, mad, homeless and Indigenous communities in Canada. Each chapter is written from the perspective of researchers who, due to their race, class, sexual/gender identity, ability and geographical location, labour at the margins of their disciplines. By using their own research projects as sites, contributors probe the ethicality of long-established and cutting-edge methodological frameworks to theorize the indivisible relationship between methodology, ethics and politics, elucidating key challenges and dilemmas confronting marginalized researchers and research subjects alike.