Case studies

This is a jewel among methods Handbooks, bringing together a formidable collection of international contributors to comment on every aspect of the various central issues, complications and controversies in the core methodological traditions. It is designed to meet the needs of those disciplinary and nondisciplinary problem-oriented social inquirers for a comprehensive overview of the methodological literature. The text is divided into 7 sections: - Overviews of methodological approaches in the social sciences; - Cases, comparisons and theory; - Quantification and experiment; - Rationality, complexity and collectivity; - Interpretation, critique and postmodernity; - Discourse construction; and - Engagement. Edited by two leading figures in the field, the Handbook is a landmark work in the field of research methods. More than just a `cookbook' that teaches readers how to master techniques, it will give social scientists in all disciplines an appreciation for the full range of methodological debates today, from the quantitative to the qualitative, giving them deeper and sharpen insights into their own research questions. It will generate debate, solutions and a series of questions for researchers to exploit and develop in their research and teaching.