This is a comprehensive and authoritative reference collection in the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences. The source materials selected are drawn from debates within the natural sciences as well as social scientific practice.

VOLUME ONE CANONS AND CUSTODIANS (SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY IN THE 20TH CENTURY) SECTION ONE LANGUAGE, EXPLANATION AND REALITY The Elimination of Metaphysics and The a priori - A J Ayer How a priori Knowledge Is Possible - B Russell Verification - I Berlin The Function of General Laws in History - C G Hemple Empirical Propositions and Hypothetical Statements - I Berlin Logical Translation - I Berlin SECTION TWO POPPERIAN INTERVENTIONS AND THE PROBLEMS OF POSITIVISM Fundamental Problems and A Theory of Method - K Popper Science, Conjectures and Refutations - K Popper Conjectural Knowledge - K Popper My Solution of the Problem of Induction Two Dogmas of Empiricism - W O Quine Positivism and Its Critics - A Giddens SECTION THREE CONCEPT FORMATION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Problems of Concept and Theory Formation in the Social Sciences - E Nagel Typological Methods in the Social Sciences - C G Hempel Concept and Theory Formation in the Social Sciences - A Schutz VOLUME TWO UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE SECTION ONE ACKNOWLEDGING IMAGINATION AND COMPLEXITY IN THE SOCIAL WORLD Ideal Types and Objectivity in Social Science and Social Policy - M Weber Common-Sense and Scientific Interpretation of Human Action - A Schutz Scientism - F A Hayek Are the Social Sciences Really Inferior? - F Machlup SECTION TWO INTERPRETATION AND MEANING IN SOCIAL SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE Interpretation and the Sciences of Man - C Taylor Routine and Everyday Activities and Common-Sense Knowledge of Social Structures - H Garfinkel Naturalisms and Anti-Naturalisms - W Outhwaite Science and Solidarity - R Rorty Empiricism, Idealism and Realism - M J Smith An Essay in Social Psychology VOLUME THREE (NATURAL AND SOCIAL) SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AS A SOCIAL PRODUCT SECTION ONE PARADIGMS ETC WHAT SCIENTISTS DO ... Normal Science and The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions - T Kuhn Kuhn′s Second Thoughts - A Musgrave Putting Philosophy to Work - M Mulkay and G N Gilbert The TEA Set - H Collins Tacit Knowledge and Scientific Networks Science as Gift-Giving - W O Hagstrom The Cycle of Credibility - B Latour and S Woolgar The Strong Programme in the Sociology of Knowledge - D Bloor Naturalism, Epistemological Individualism and The Strong Programme - P T Manicas and A Rosenberg Mode 1 and Mode 2 Knowledge production - M Gibbons SECTION TWO ... AND WHAT SCIENTISTS SHOULD DO! Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes - I Lakatos Normal Science and Its Dangers - K Popper On the Critique of Scientific Reason - P Feyerabend For Method - L Laudan Answering the Relativist Critique of Methodology of Kuhn and Feyerabend SECTION THREE PARADIGMS AND RESEARCH PROGRAMMES IN SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE Kuhn versus Lakatos, or Paradigms versus Research Programmes in the History of Economics - M Blaug The Lakatosian Legacy in Economic Methodology - R E Backhouse Objectivity, Neutrality and Paradigms in Political Science - M Landau VOLUME FOUR REINVENTING THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (TOWARDS A POSTDISCIPLINARY FUTURE) SECTION ONE NEW DEBATES AND SITUATED KNOWLEDGES The Debate between Relativists and Absolutists - R Harre and M Krausz A Reappraisal Structuralism, Post-Structuralism and the Production of Culture - A Giddens Societies - R Bhaskar Problems of Explanation and the Aims of Social Science - A Sayer From the Woman Question in Science to the Science Question in Feminism - S Harding Feminisms and Models of Qualitative Research - V Olesen Is Science Multicultural? Challenges, Resources, Opportunities, Uncertainties - S Harding SECTION TWO APPLICATIONS The Rhetoric of Economics - D N McCloskey Is There a Postmodern Sociology? - Z Bauman Two Philosophies of the Rhetoric of Economics - U Maki A Realist Perspective on Contemporary Economic Theory - T Lawson Geohistorical Explanation and Problems of Narrative - A Sayer Prospects for a Post-Disciplinary Social Science - M J Smith