This fully revised, updated and extended edition of a successful text, introduces some of the important philosophical issues arising from social research practices and historical research in the social sciences. Since its initial publication the field of social research and philosophy has been widely debated, and this expanded version incorporates the most recent discussion and theories. In this edition John Hughes and Wes Sharrock carefully analyse the research implications of the great sociological thinkers, and stress that depending upon the researcher's philosophical leanings, there are a range of possible interpretations of the 'facts' uncovered by the researcher.

John A. Hughes

W. W. Sharrock

1. Editor's Preface 2. Preface 3. The Philosophy of Social Research 4. The Positivist Orthodoxy 5. Positivism and the Language of Social Research 6. Positivism and the Conception of Science 7. The Interpretative Alternative 8. Lay vs Scientific Conceptions 9. Language, Reality and Rationality 10. The Evaporation of Meaning; Conclusion 11. Index