The Social Contexts of Method

Originally published in 1978, The Social Contexts of Method explores what the editors considered some basic problems in the sociology of methodology at the time. They felt there were also many others, which find expression and treatment in this book. The contributors, a like-minded group of sociologists, social psychologists and philosophers, had in many ways their own paths towards a new understanding of the role of method in social enquiry. They all rejected or were deeply critical of the methods traditionally used in psychology or the social sciences, and most rejected causal explanations. The book is appraised as a whole in a final chapter, which examines and breaks down this new approach to the study of social behaviour. Today it can be read in its historical context.