Methodology for the Human Sciences Systems of Inquiry (SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) - Softcover

Polkinghorne, Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0873956648 ISBN 13: 9780873956642

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1984

Synopsis

Methodology for the Human Sciences addresses the growing need for a comprehensive textbook that surveys the emerging body of literature on human science research and clearly describes procedures and methods for carrying out new research strategies. It provides an overview of developing methods, describes their commonalities and variations, and contains practical information on how to implement strategies in the field. In it, Donald Polkinghorne calls for a renewal of debate over which methods are appropriate for the study of human beings, proposing that the results of the extensive changes in the philosophy of science since 1960 call for a reexamination of the original issues of this debate.

The book traces the history of the deliberations from Mill and Dilthey to Hempel and logical positivism, examines recently developed systems of inquiry and their importance for the human sciences, and relates these systems to the practical problems of doing research on topics related to human experience. It discusses historical realism, systems and structures, phenomenology and hermeneutics, action theory, and the implications recent systems have for a revised human science methodology.

About this title

About the Author

Donald E. Polkinghorne is Emeritus Professor and Chair of Counseling Psychology at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Methodology for the Human Sciences: Systems of Inquiry and Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences, both also published by SUNY Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0873956648
• ISBN 13: 9780873956642
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 364