Mindful Inquiry in Social Research
2nd Edition
Published on 6. October 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
360 pages
978-1-0719-2067-1 (ISBN)
Description
An updated edition of the bestselling text broadens the conception of mindfulness, and shows how mindful inquirers can maximize positive outcomes for participants, organizations, communities, and themselves. The first five chapters describe the application of mindful inquiry, and the following nine introduce cultures of inquiry and research traditions, theories, methods, and techniques.
Reviews / Votes
The book provides essential foundations for conducting research in a world fraught with complex, pervasive, and pressing social issues. It continues, expands, and updates the approach of the innovative first edition, offering new and experienced researchers important insights about inquiry as a profound process of personal and social development. -- Tina Lynn EvansMore details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Publishing group
Sage Publications Inc Ebooks
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
525 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0719-2067-1 (9781071920671)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Valerie Malhotra Bentz | Jeremy J. Shapiro
Mindful Inquiry in Social Research
Book
09/1998
1st Edition
SAGE Publications Inc
€124.99
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Valerie Malhotra Bentz, Ph.D., MSSW is Professor, School of Leadership Studies, Fielding Graduate University, having served as Associate Dean for Research. Her interests include phenomenology, somatics, social theory, consciousness development, contemplative research and Vedantic knowledge. She is engaged in collaborative research leading to publications such as: Deathworlds to Lifeworlds: Collaboration with Strangers for Personal, Social and Ecological Transformation, (with James Marlatt); Handbook of Transformative Phenomenology (with James Marlatt) Expressions of Phenomenological Research (with David Rehorick); Contemplative Social Research (with Vincenzo Giorgino); Transformative Phenomenology (with David Rehorick). She is the author of Becoming Mature: Childhood Ghosts and Spirits in Adult Life and a philosophical novel, Flesh and Mind: The Time Travels of Dr. Victoria Von Dietz. Valerie directs the Doctoral Concentration in Somatics, Phenomenology and Communicative Leadership (SPCL) and co-founded the concentration in Creative Longevity and Wisdom. She is an experienced psychotherapist, yoga teacher, massage therapist, environmental activist and musician.
James Marlatt PhD, MBA, P.Eng. is an Institute for Social Innovation Fellow at Fielding Graduate University and is a certified executive coach and leadership and organizational development consultant. Jim studied Transformative Phenomenology with David Rehorick and Valerie Malhotra Bentz and is an applied social phenomenologist and adjunct professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. His publications include the edited volumes Deathworlds to Lifeworlds: Collaboration With Strangers for Individual, Social and Ecological Transformation, and the Handbook of Transformative Phenomenology, both with Valerie Malhotra Bentz. Jim is also a professional geological engineer, with a lengthy career in the mineral resource industry, including applied natural science research with T. Kurt Kyser. He acts as an occasional international education and training consultant to a United Nations affiliate on matters related to global energy supply. He lives on Vancouver Island with his wife Margaret and is the proud father of twin daughters.
Jeremy J. Shapiro, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Human and Organization Development at Fielding Graduate University. With a background in sociology, philosophy, information systems, and intellectual history, he has published in the area of critical social theory, with emphasis on the cultural and social impact of information technology and the aesthetics of music. He translated and introduced into the English-speaking world major works by Juergen Habermas and Herbert Marcuse and has also translated writings of Theodor W. Adorno, Karl Mannheim, and Pierre Bourdieu. As an educator, he has specialized in the teaching of research, critical thinking, information literacy, and music listening as well as critical theory. He has also worked as an information systems professional for 15 years; been active nationally in efforts to use networked information resources and computer networks in higher education; published and presented on information literacy, the virtual university, and the social consequences of the Internet; and been involved in efforts to bring computer technology to community, grassroots, and nonprofit organizations. He has also taught peer counseling. He graduated from Harvard College under Robert Paul Wolff and Barrington Moore, Jr., studied philosophy and sociology with Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, and Juergen Habermas at the University of Frankfurt-am-Main and computer science with Abbe Mowshowitz at the City University of New York, and obtained his doctorate from Brandeis University under Kurt Wolff and Maurice Stein. His passions are classical music and travel. He lives in New York city with his wife Pamela Walsh and his cat Minou.
Luann Drolc Fortune PhD, LMT, is an educator, researcher, and advocate whose orientation and thinking has been fundamentally impacted by her work with Valerie Bentz and the Transformative Phenomenology communities of practice from Fielding University. She believes that context influences contributions and thus discloses that she is a cisgender, heterosexual white female whose cultural identity is influenced by her experience as a second-generation American of Eastern European descent and a first-generation female college graduate. She is professionally embedded in complementary and integrative medicine through 25 years of practice experience as a massage therapist where she witnessed inequities in the delivery of integrative medicine. She is committed to addressing diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) inequities in her work and community, beginning by cultivating her own cultural competency. Luann serves as faculty and coordinates the specialization in Mindful Leadership in the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences at Saybrook University, an institute deeply rooted in humanistic tradition. Her scholarship focuses on mindfulness, integrative healthcare, and holistic wellness practices, as well as somatic awareness and embodiment techniques for research and practice. She is active in community service and currently serves as the associate editor of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB). She was personally impacted by the climate crisis when Hurricane Ian destroyed her home in SW Florida.
James Marlatt PhD, MBA, P.Eng. is an Institute for Social Innovation Fellow at Fielding Graduate University and is a certified executive coach and leadership and organizational development consultant. Jim studied Transformative Phenomenology with David Rehorick and Valerie Malhotra Bentz and is an applied social phenomenologist and adjunct professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. His publications include the edited volumes Deathworlds to Lifeworlds: Collaboration With Strangers for Individual, Social and Ecological Transformation, and the Handbook of Transformative Phenomenology, both with Valerie Malhotra Bentz. Jim is also a professional geological engineer, with a lengthy career in the mineral resource industry, including applied natural science research with T. Kurt Kyser. He acts as an occasional international education and training consultant to a United Nations affiliate on matters related to global energy supply. He lives on Vancouver Island with his wife Margaret and is the proud father of twin daughters.
Jeremy J. Shapiro, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Human and Organization Development at Fielding Graduate University. With a background in sociology, philosophy, information systems, and intellectual history, he has published in the area of critical social theory, with emphasis on the cultural and social impact of information technology and the aesthetics of music. He translated and introduced into the English-speaking world major works by Juergen Habermas and Herbert Marcuse and has also translated writings of Theodor W. Adorno, Karl Mannheim, and Pierre Bourdieu. As an educator, he has specialized in the teaching of research, critical thinking, information literacy, and music listening as well as critical theory. He has also worked as an information systems professional for 15 years; been active nationally in efforts to use networked information resources and computer networks in higher education; published and presented on information literacy, the virtual university, and the social consequences of the Internet; and been involved in efforts to bring computer technology to community, grassroots, and nonprofit organizations. He has also taught peer counseling. He graduated from Harvard College under Robert Paul Wolff and Barrington Moore, Jr., studied philosophy and sociology with Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, and Juergen Habermas at the University of Frankfurt-am-Main and computer science with Abbe Mowshowitz at the City University of New York, and obtained his doctorate from Brandeis University under Kurt Wolff and Maurice Stein. His passions are classical music and travel. He lives in New York city with his wife Pamela Walsh and his cat Minou.
Luann Drolc Fortune PhD, LMT, is an educator, researcher, and advocate whose orientation and thinking has been fundamentally impacted by her work with Valerie Bentz and the Transformative Phenomenology communities of practice from Fielding University. She believes that context influences contributions and thus discloses that she is a cisgender, heterosexual white female whose cultural identity is influenced by her experience as a second-generation American of Eastern European descent and a first-generation female college graduate. She is professionally embedded in complementary and integrative medicine through 25 years of practice experience as a massage therapist where she witnessed inequities in the delivery of integrative medicine. She is committed to addressing diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) inequities in her work and community, beginning by cultivating her own cultural competency. Luann serves as faculty and coordinates the specialization in Mindful Leadership in the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences at Saybrook University, an institute deeply rooted in humanistic tradition. Her scholarship focuses on mindfulness, integrative healthcare, and holistic wellness practices, as well as somatic awareness and embodiment techniques for research and practice. She is active in community service and currently serves as the associate editor of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB). She was personally impacted by the climate crisis when Hurricane Ian destroyed her home in SW Florida.
Content
Preface
About the Authors
Introduction
Chapter 1: The 21st Century Context and a New Approach
Putting the Person at the Center
Mindful Inquiry: Our Philosophy
Who is the Researcher?
Multiplicity of Approaches, Cultures of Inquiry
Becoming a Researcher as Socialization into a Community
Building Caring Communities Through Mindful Inquiry
Mode of Serious Play
Conclusion
Chapter 2: The Mindful Inquirer as Philosopher: From Positivism/Scientism to Postmodernism and Beyond
The Researcher as Applied Philosopher
The Mysterious Death and Afterlife of Positivism
The Postmodern Situation and the Crisis in the Foundations of Knowledge
Living at a Historical Turning Point: Forms of Posthumanism or the Global Context of Research
Post-Truth and Fake News
Mindful Inquiry and the Way Forward: Alternative Epistemologies to Scientism/Positivism
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Mindful Inquiry as the Basis for Scholarly Practice
Four Knowledge Traditions
Mindful Inquiry as Contemplative Embodied Critical Hermeneutic Phenomenology
Summary
The Spiral of Mindful Inquiry
Beyond Research Ethics to Mindful Inquiry
The Affinity of Mindful Inquiry to Non-Western Thought
Summary
Chapter 4: Fundamentals of Mindful Inquiry
Fundamentals for Authenticity
Experiment and Typification in Everyday Life and Social Inquiry
Assessments, Tests, and Measurements: Developing Types
Journalism Versus Social Science: Linking Theory and Research
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Mindful Scholar-Practitioner
The Role of the Scholar-Practitioner
Misappropriation and Mindful Inquiry
Functions and Qualities of the Scholar-Practitioner
Examples of Scholar-Practitioner Inquiry
Research as Collaboration with a Community of Research & Practice (CORP)
Becoming a Scholar-Practitioner
Assessing Your Growing Competency as a Researcher
What Makes Something Count as Knowledge?
Gaining Mastery of Research Competencies to Maximize Creativity as a Researcher
Chapter 6: Cultures of Inquiry and Research Traditions
Disciplines, Cultures of Inquiry, Theories, Methods, and Techniques
Situating Yourself Within Research Traditions
Looking at Cultures of Inquiry
Chapter 7: Contemplative Embodied Awareness
Somatics or Embodied Awareness
Somatic (Embodied) Inquiry
Somatics and Research Process
Somatics and Social Justice
Limitations and Challenges
Contemplative Inquiry
Chapter 8: Phenomenological Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Raw Data of Phenomenological Research
Phenomenological Methods of Gaining Understanding
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
The Necessity and Centrality of the Phenomenological Reduction
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Critique of Phenomenology
Chapter 9: Hermeneutic Inquiry, Ethnography, and Narrative Research
Hermeneutics
Strategies for Analyzing Texts
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Raw Data of Hermeneutic Research
Hermeneutic Methods of Gaining Understanding
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Deep Hermeneutics of Heidegger and Gadamer
Ethnography
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
A Note on Autoethnography
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Quantitative, Behavioral, Evaluation, Mixed, and Multi-Phased Research
Orientation to Quantitative and Behavioral Science Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Evaluation Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Mixed Methods Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Multiphased Research Focused on Areas of Public Concern
Conclusion
Chapter 11: Comparative-Historical Inquiry, Theoretical Inquiry, and Grounded Theory
Orientation to Comparative-Historical Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Theoretical Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Chapter 12: Critical Theory and Critical Social Theory
Orientation to Critical Social Science
Some Historical Notes on Critical Social Science
Origins and Implications of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
Thinkers That Followed the Pathway
Implications for Problems of Today
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
A Note on Intersectionality and Mindful Inquiry
Chapter 13: Action Research and Indigenous Research
Origins, Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
The Action Research Family
Indigenous Research
Conclusion
Chapter 14: Conclusion and Magic Formulae
Magic Formulae
Intend to Learn
Surrender and Catch
Conjecture and Refute
To the Things Themselves
Let Everything Human Be Spoken to You
Regard All Things as They Present Themselves From the Standpoint of Redemption
Cultivate a Boundless Heart Toward All Beings
Cultivate Contemplative Embodied Awareness
Summary
Appendix A: Glossary
Appendix B: Research Competencies
Appendix C: Key Ideas of Positivism/Scientism
Appendix D: Introductory Reading List
References
Index
About the Authors
Introduction
Chapter 1: The 21st Century Context and a New Approach
Putting the Person at the Center
Mindful Inquiry: Our Philosophy
Who is the Researcher?
Multiplicity of Approaches, Cultures of Inquiry
Becoming a Researcher as Socialization into a Community
Building Caring Communities Through Mindful Inquiry
Mode of Serious Play
Conclusion
Chapter 2: The Mindful Inquirer as Philosopher: From Positivism/Scientism to Postmodernism and Beyond
The Researcher as Applied Philosopher
The Mysterious Death and Afterlife of Positivism
The Postmodern Situation and the Crisis in the Foundations of Knowledge
Living at a Historical Turning Point: Forms of Posthumanism or the Global Context of Research
Post-Truth and Fake News
Mindful Inquiry and the Way Forward: Alternative Epistemologies to Scientism/Positivism
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Mindful Inquiry as the Basis for Scholarly Practice
Four Knowledge Traditions
Mindful Inquiry as Contemplative Embodied Critical Hermeneutic Phenomenology
Summary
The Spiral of Mindful Inquiry
Beyond Research Ethics to Mindful Inquiry
The Affinity of Mindful Inquiry to Non-Western Thought
Summary
Chapter 4: Fundamentals of Mindful Inquiry
Fundamentals for Authenticity
Experiment and Typification in Everyday Life and Social Inquiry
Assessments, Tests, and Measurements: Developing Types
Journalism Versus Social Science: Linking Theory and Research
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Mindful Scholar-Practitioner
The Role of the Scholar-Practitioner
Misappropriation and Mindful Inquiry
Functions and Qualities of the Scholar-Practitioner
Examples of Scholar-Practitioner Inquiry
Research as Collaboration with a Community of Research & Practice (CORP)
Becoming a Scholar-Practitioner
Assessing Your Growing Competency as a Researcher
What Makes Something Count as Knowledge?
Gaining Mastery of Research Competencies to Maximize Creativity as a Researcher
Chapter 6: Cultures of Inquiry and Research Traditions
Disciplines, Cultures of Inquiry, Theories, Methods, and Techniques
Situating Yourself Within Research Traditions
Looking at Cultures of Inquiry
Chapter 7: Contemplative Embodied Awareness
Somatics or Embodied Awareness
Somatic (Embodied) Inquiry
Somatics and Research Process
Somatics and Social Justice
Limitations and Challenges
Contemplative Inquiry
Chapter 8: Phenomenological Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Raw Data of Phenomenological Research
Phenomenological Methods of Gaining Understanding
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
The Necessity and Centrality of the Phenomenological Reduction
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Critique of Phenomenology
Chapter 9: Hermeneutic Inquiry, Ethnography, and Narrative Research
Hermeneutics
Strategies for Analyzing Texts
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Raw Data of Hermeneutic Research
Hermeneutic Methods of Gaining Understanding
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Deep Hermeneutics of Heidegger and Gadamer
Ethnography
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
A Note on Autoethnography
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Quantitative, Behavioral, Evaluation, Mixed, and Multi-Phased Research
Orientation to Quantitative and Behavioral Science Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Evaluation Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Mixed Methods Research
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Multiphased Research Focused on Areas of Public Concern
Conclusion
Chapter 11: Comparative-Historical Inquiry, Theoretical Inquiry, and Grounded Theory
Orientation to Comparative-Historical Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Orientation to Theoretical Inquiry
Typical Problems and Concerns
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
Chapter 12: Critical Theory and Critical Social Theory
Orientation to Critical Social Science
Some Historical Notes on Critical Social Science
Origins and Implications of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
Thinkers That Followed the Pathway
Implications for Problems of Today
Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
Relationship Between Researcher and Subject Matter
A Note on Intersectionality and Mindful Inquiry
Chapter 13: Action Research and Indigenous Research
Origins, Typical Problems and Concerns
The Nature of Explanation and the Nature of Knowledge
The Action Research Family
Indigenous Research
Conclusion
Chapter 14: Conclusion and Magic Formulae
Magic Formulae
Intend to Learn
Surrender and Catch
Conjecture and Refute
To the Things Themselves
Let Everything Human Be Spoken to You
Regard All Things as They Present Themselves From the Standpoint of Redemption
Cultivate a Boundless Heart Toward All Beings
Cultivate Contemplative Embodied Awareness
Summary
Appendix A: Glossary
Appendix B: Research Competencies
Appendix C: Key Ideas of Positivism/Scientism
Appendix D: Introductory Reading List
References
Index