Ways of Knowing

Reviews / Votes

No book does a better job rendering accessible so much of the history and concepts of philosophy of science for the budding social scientist. * Craig Parsons, University of Oregon, USA * Ways of Knowing is probably the best introductory book on the market on social science philosophy and methodologies. The book has been a regular part of the curriculum for 300 political science and social science students per year for almost 10 years at the University of Copenhagen. This is because both teachers and students are very satisfied with it. * Peter Nedergaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark * With an elegant set-up, imaginative use of examples from inside and outside of academia, and unrelenting commitment to methodological pluralism, the third edition of Ways of Knowing remains the leading political science textbook on methodology. * Liam Stanley, University of Sheffield, UK * The social sciences are a site of deep and divisive debate about the nature of reality and how it ought to be studied, between positivists and interpretivists, econometricians and qualitative researchers, experimentalists and observationalists. In this lucid and innovative book, Moses and Knutsen help readers make sense of a multiplicity of empirical approaches by explicating the philosophical tenets of, and research strategies that flow from, two broad methodological outlooks: naturalism and constructivism. Surveying the most prominent methods in the social sciences (experimental, statistical, comparative, and narrative-historical) the authors show how both naturalists and constructivists scholars employ each of these frameworks, but on differing logics and toward differing knowledge-producing ends. For students of sociology or political science, this text will serve as an invaluable map of the methodological terrain while making a timely case for building intellectual bridges between traditions. * Alan M. Jacobs, University of British Columbia, Canada * With their third edition of Ways of Knowing, Moses and Knutsen carefully revise and update a must-have for every scholar of social and political research. Strengthening the strengths of their excellent textbook, they provide a comprehensive and insightful discussion of two main strands of social science methodologies and methods: naturalism and constructivism. * Rolf Frankenberger, University of Tuebingen, Germany * This is an extremely clear, straightforward and well-exemplified guide to social science. Any student struggling to grasp the idea of a social science should read chapters 2 to 6 of this excellent book, which covers experiments, statistical analysis, comparison, and historical/case study approaches. The third edition further updates and expands the diversity of techniques within each camp. * Adrian Blau, King's College London, UK *