Cultures of Inquiry

From Epistemology to Discourse in Sociohistorical Research

John R Hall author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:28th Jun '99

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Cultures of Inquiry cover

An overview of research methodologies in social science, historical and cultural studies which proposes transdisciplinary approach.

Cultures of Inquiry provides an overview of research methodologies in social science, historical and cultural studies. Describing eight interconnected methodologies that transcend present-day disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries, it moves beyond the objectivism/relativism debate in the philosophy and sociology of knowledge by showing how alternative research practices are formed.Cultures of Inquiry provides an overview of research methodologies in social science, historical and cultural studies. Facing Kant's proposition that pure reason cannot contain social inquiry, John R. Hall uses a method of hermeneutic deconstruction to produce a 'critique of impure reason', thereby charting a 'third path' to knowledge. Inquiries conventionally allocated to science or interpretation, modern or postmodern, he argues, depend upon interconnected methodologies that transcend present-day disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries. He identifies four formative discourses and eight methodological practices of inquiry, and explores new possibilities for translation between different types of knowledge. Cultures of Inquiry neither exoticizes academic subcultures nor essentializes Culture as the spirit of academe. Instead, it addresses workaday issues of research via a sociology of knowledge that speaks to controversies concerning how inquiry is and ought to be practiced under conditions of epistemological disjuncture.

"...an illuminating and useful review." American Journal of Sociology
"...valuable exploration of modes of sociohistorical research or inquiry... Halls' presentation is rigorous and thorough." Stephen M. Feldman, Contemporary Sociology

ISBN: 9780521642200

Dimensions: 236mm x 157mm x 25mm

Weight: 630g

330 pages