This unique book explains the central role that research paradigms play in the design and conduct of social research. The authors argue that social research should not just describe or confirm a social problem but should seek to find an explanation for it ? and to do so requires research with ?eyes philosophically wide open?.

Important philosophical and practice elements of three widely recognized paradigms ? Neo-Positive, Interpretive and Critical Realist ? are carefully elaborated and their use in action illustrated with detailed examples. The authors show that the...