Optional course, MA in Social and Political Thought
Note - this course will not form part of the MA SPT from Autumn 2008/9.
Tutors: Gerard Delanty and Alana Lentin

The aim of the course is to introduce students to some of the standard methodological problems posed by social inquiry. These mostly branch out from one central question: are the methods of the social sciences essentially the same or essentially different from those of the natural sciences? Among the the topics to be addressed are: developments in the philosophy of science from positivism to post-positivism and their relevance to social inquiry; explanation versus interpretation and the interpretive critique of social science; problems of validity and values and the role of ideal types. Students will be expected to understand the epistemological underpinnings of different approaches to social inquiry. They will be expected to be able to apply this understanding critically in their consideration of different research methodologies in social inquiry.

Course Summary

Week 1 Introduction (Gerard Delanty)
Week 2 Science, positivism and social inquiry (Gerard Delanty)
Week 3 Functionalism and structuralism (Gerard Delanty)
Week 4 Interpretative social science (Gerard Delanty)
Week 5 Critical social science (Gerard Delanty)
Week 6 Constructivism and realism (Gerard Delanty)
Week 7 Methodological individualism and rational choice (Gerard Delanty)
Week 8 Post-Structuralism, postmodernism and reflexivity (Gerard Delanty)
Week 9 Feminism(Alana Lentin)
Week 10 Postcolonialism (Alana Lentin)

Core Texts

There are no set texts, but this text will be a key resource: Philosophies of Social Science: The Classic and Contemporary Readings, edited by Gerard Delanty and Piet Strydom. Open University Press, 2003. The volume consists of 64 edited extracts with commentary from classic works in the philosophy of social science.