Search results for ""author martyn hammersley""

There have been relatively few well-informed, critical assessments of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. This book examines some of the background to these approaches, notably the influence of Schutz and phenomenology. It also compares Garfinkel’s approach with those of Goffman and Simmel, and assesses the influence of Cicourel and conversation analysis on research methodology. The core of the book is an in-depth assessment of the rationale for ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, and of their relationship to mainstream social science. While the importance of the issues that these epistemologically and ontologically radical approaches raise is underlined, a number of fundamental problems are identified with the rationale underpinning them.

Read more less

The literature on social science methods and the issues surrounding them has grown massively and continues to increase. Yet many social scientists are ambivalent about methodology. For some, it plays a central, perhaps even an all-encompassing, role; while, for others, it is desirable only in small amounts, or indeed is regarded as an irrelevance, as a distraction from actually doing research. In this book, Hammersley argues that, in large part, this reflects and is part of a wider problem: the gradual decline of a previously influential academic model of inquiry. This has occurred as a result of ideological challenges and the erosion of the institutional conditions that support academic work. He defends this model, spelling out the demands it places upon social scientists, and examining such issues as the proper role of methodology, the nature of objectivity, the false idea that social scientists should be intellectuals or social critics, the dialectic of academic discussion, the ethics of belief, and the limits of academic freedom. More broadly, he also questions the role of the social research within society and what it means to be a social scientist in the 21st century. Hammersley′s book is engagingly written and controversial. It tackles the major issues of contemporary social research methodology head on and is an essential read for anyone with an interest in this field.

Read more less

Combining classic articles that have been key markers in recent debates with some new material, this book addresses the problems involved in educational research and the issues surrounding its contribution to policymaking and practice. The authors examine the diverse approaches within qualitative research and address some of the key areas which have attracted criticism. They consider what role research should play and examine the case for randomised controlled trials and for action research. The book is suitable for any undergraduate or postgraduate student concerned with educational research methodology, as well as those focusing on educational policy and practice, and students doing PhDs and EdDs.

Read more less

There can be little doubt that pupils’ own interpretations of what happens in their schools represent a crucial link in the educational chain. We need to understand how pupils respond to different forms of pedagogy and school organization, and why they respond in the ways they do, in order to increase the effectiveness of our schooling.In the ten years prior to first publication ethnographic studies of pupils in schools had increased in number and importance. They had come to represent a leading area of inquiry which is still of relevance to practising and student teachers today. However, this material was not easily accessible, being widely distributed across educational and sociological journals and books. Originally published in 1984, this book collects together significant contributions to the field in a single volume, and will still be of relevance to practising and trainee teachers, and students of sociology and education.

Read more less