Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences (Contemporary Societies)

I'm just starting on this, but it was recommended by two of my professors. I am currently working on my doctoral dissertation, which will most likely be qualitative in nature.

Very good!

This book should be required reading in doctoral methods courses! If you want to understand how to think through your research, this is a must read.

A great source for those in the business of writing original social science research. The section on heuristics is really liberating for those stuck on voicing ideas.

Excellent

The author is brilliant! He provided many good ideas for coming up with ideas. I read this in a dissertation proposal seminar. We were all fascinated, including our professor, a well-established scholar. He said that even at his stage of career, he was able to take many ideas for coming up with researchable questions.

This is a beautifully written, clear and understandable analysis of the diverse ways of thinking in contemporary sociology. It is written to be understandable by undergraduates who are serious about the discipline and are about to undertake research on their own. Graduate students will find it indispensible as they make very important decisions about their own careers. Reading Abbott is much easier than trying to figure these things out on your own . The author's concept of "fractual heuristics" is an innovative and insightful way of thinking about the interaction of different kinds of ideas in the discipline. There is too much here for me to summarize in a short review, but it is well worth reading.Ted Goertzel, Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University.

Good price!

Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences ist nicht nur eine interessante und spannende Analyse unterschiedlicher Methoden, Debatten und Praktiken zur Erklärung sozialwissenschaftlicher Phänomene, sondern auch eine nützliche Sammlung heuristischer Herangehensweisen für die sozialwissenschaftliche Praxis.

First things first. If you order the book listed on this page you will receive a copy of Andrew Abbott, Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences (New York: Norton, 2004), 0-393-97814-1 - that is the book in the picture at the top of the page. At the time of this review the title on the page is Methodological Moves (So if you've managed to find your way to this page well done!)This is an unusual book; its concern is not with research methods in the way that they are normally discussed but with how to generate new approaches and insights to research problems. A large part of the book is taken up with examples of how influential pieces of research have used these techniques or heuristics. For instance Abbott argues that there are nine basic debates within the social science, such as those between positivism and interpretivism or realism and constructionism one strategy that can be employed is for interpretivists to deploy realist strategies or vice versa. He also looks at strategies around description and narrative.This is an interesting book for the social scientist because it helps you to think about your own intellectual persona. You become aware of the characteristic strategies that you tend to use without thinking about them. This is a book aimed at students and there are helpful discussions about choosing good questions and topics.

This is the best book on research methods in the social science I have come across. It does teaching thinking, rather than just doing social research. The author is one of the most prolific and open-minded sociologists out there, who has the rare gift of being interested in all branches of social research and not just is small niece.Must read for any serious social scientist, must read for the curious mind.