Knowledge and the Social Sciences. Theory, Method, Practice. The Open University.

Edited By David Goldblatt

ISBN 10: 0415329760 / ISBN 13: 9780415329767

Published by Routledge/The Open University Press, Great Britain, 2000

About this Item

Trade Paperback. This book looks at the role of the social sciences in explaining and exploring the explosion of knowledge in the contemporary world. Its stating point is the claim that all forms of knowledge, including the social sciences, must be understood in their social context. It argues that the social sciences both describe and transform what they study and it introduces students to some essential key concepts and arguments. In a radical and practical introduction to w3ays of thinking and knowing in the social sciences this text investigates the origins and consequences of different types of knowledge in areas of social change in both everyday thinking and more academic fields - medical science, religious belief systems, and the environment and political responses to environmental change. These issues are explored in the context of the emergence of what has been called the 'knowledge society; in which the proliferation of new sources of knowledge, which are transmitted at speed across the globe, has been accompanied by a decline in trust in tradtitional forms of authority and expert knowledge. Illustrated. 162 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions etc.).

Seller Inventory # 101453

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Knowledge and the Social Sciences. Theory, Method, Practice. The Open University.
• Publisher: Routledge/The Open University Press, Great Britain
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415329760
• ISBN 13: 9780415329767
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Academic Education Learning Business

About this title

Synopsis

Knowledge and the Social Sciences takes as its point of departure the claims that all forms of knowledge, the social sciences included, must be seen and understood in their social context. It argues that the social sciences both describe and transform their object of study, though rarely in ways that social scientists intend, and introduces students to the key epistemological and philosophical terms and issues essential for further study in the social sciences.

In a radical and yet lucid and practical introduction to ways of thinking and knowing in the social sciences this text investigates:

* the origins and consequences of different types of knowledge in substantive areas of social change: medical practice, religious beliefs, and the environment
* whether there is a decline in public trust of expert knowledge systems
* whether we are entering a knowledge society, a fragmented post-modern society, or a risk society.

About the Author

David Goldblatt