Reflexivity
The Essential Guide
- Tim May - Professor of Social Science Methodology, Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield, The University of Sheffield, UK
- Beth Perry - Professorial Fellow, Urban Institute, University of Sheffield
Reflexivity – the critical examination of how we see the world – is integral to good research practice. From this state-of-the-art, accessible tour of its history and contemporary relevance, readers will learn of its importance to social research and to society generally. The text introduces a host of influential thinkers and their key ideas on reflexivity, and incorporates examples from a range of disciplines and research settings. Drawing on the authors’ extensive experience of real research settings, this book:
- Pinpoints the importance of reflexivity in social research
- Demonstrates its relevance to everyday life
- Firmly locates the concept in the history of ideas
- Explores key questions about the bases of knowledge and understanding
- Presents key thinkers, concepts and issues in easy-to-understand learning boxes
The result is a book that provides students and researchers in the social sciences with the knowledge and understanding necessary not only to examine the role of reflexivity in contemporary life, but to apply it in their own research practice.
"Finally, a sensible, detailed and complex analysis of reflexivity in all its guises. Both intellectually rigorous and practically applicable, this book is essential reading for students across the social sciences."
Spanning philosophy and social science, disciplined inquiry and individual reflection and theory and practice, this new work provides an invaluable overview of the key thinkers, ideas and issues involved in the reflexive turn in social inquiry. One marvels at its comprehensiveness, precision, and lucidity. Highly useful for students and established scholars alike.
In their book, "Reflexivity. The Essential Guide", Tim May and Beth Perry provide an extensive examination of the role of reflexivity in social research. Drawing on insights from a wide range of disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, linguistics, and above all, philosophy, the authors propose an enriching intellectual journey for social researchers and lay audience alike.
