Sage Publications Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research

Objectivity and subjectivity are key concepts in social research. This book, written by leading authors in the field, takes a completely new approach to objectivity and subjectivity, no longer treating them as opposed - as many existing texts do - but as logically and methodologically related in social research. The book debates:- the philosophical bases of objectivity and relativity - relationism and dynamic synthesis- situated objectivity - theorised subjectivity - social objects and realism- objectivity and subjectivity in practiceThe authors explain complex arguments with great clarity for social science students, while also providing the detail and comprehensiveness required to meet the needs of practising researchers and scholars. Review This book is a positive contribution towards mutual understanding in the sometimes fractious debates about epistemology in social research. The authors each bring to bear a depth of knowledge, and engage in a novel ′trialogue′ around their perspectives. If you want to get to grips with the issues in thinking about objectivity and subjectivity, you couldn′t do better than to read this book.Rosalind Edwards University of SouthamptonThe editors provide solid and accessible accounts of major debates today, their histories, and why they matter. Best of all, after presenting the particular interests that drew each into sociology in different eras, innovative discussions at the end of each singly-authored chapter enable them respectfully to interrogate each other′s interpretations of the issues. This brilliant strategy will draw students into the debates in a most engaging way.Sandra Harding University of California, Los AngelesThis book is a positive contribution towards mutual understanding in the sometimes fractious debates about epistemology in social research. The authors each bring to bear a depth of knowledge, and engage in a novel ′trialogue′ around their perspectives. If you want to get to grips with the issues in thinking about objectivity and subjectivity, you couldn′t do better than to read this book. Rosalind Edwards University of Southampton About the Author Gayle Letherby is an honorary professor of sociology at the University of Plymouth and a visiting professor at the University of Greenwich. Alongside substantive interests in reproductive and non/parental identities; gender, health, and well-being; loss and bereavement; travel and transport mobility and working; and gender and identity within institutions (including universities and prisons), she has an international reputation in research methodology. Expertise in this area includes feminist and qualitative approaches and in auto/biography and creative reflexivity (with reference to data collection and presentation). Gayle is currently a coeditor of the SAGE journal Methodological Innovations and is in the process of editing the Handbook of Feminist Research for Routledge. In addition to her own research and writing, Gayle has significant experience in research mentoring and consultancy both within academia, for grant funding bodies and for HealthWatch UK.For examples of nonacademic writing and pieces written for general readership, see http://arwenackcerebrals.blogspot.co.uk/ and https://www.abctales.com/user/gletherbyJohn Scott is an Honorary Professor at the Universities of Essex, Exeter, and Copenhagen. He was formerly a professor of sociology at the Universities of Essex and Leicester, and pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Plymouth. He has been president of the British Sociological Association, Chair of the Sociology Section of the British Academy, and in 2013 was awarded the CBE for Services to Social Science. His work covers theoretical sociology, the history of sociology, elites and social stratification, and social network analysis. His most recent books include British Social Theory: Recovering Lost Traditions before 1950 (SAGE, 2018), Envisioning Soci