The Politics of Social Research

Is social research political? In recent years a debate has raged around the politicization of social research. One camp argues that research should be governed by the principle of value neutrality. Critical, feminist, antiracist, and postmodernist analyses have argued the opposite, that research is intrinsically political. In this stimulating and often controversial book, Martyn Hammersley weighs the arguments offered in support of these two camps. He considers the fundamental issues that the debate raises about the nature of social research, its political dimensions, and its contemporary relevance. At the same time, he provides a robust defense of value neutrality as a constitutive principle of social research and presents a reassessment of the role of research in modern societies. The Politics of Social Research will be of interest both to scholars and students engaged in research―both applied and theoretical―across the range of social science disciplines. Read more