Publisher's Synopsis
This work is a critical introduction to the philosophy of social science, providing a description and criticism of many of the methods and ideals that guide research and teaching in the social sciences. While most social scientists maintain that the social sciences should stand free of politics, this book argues that they should be politically partisan and that the ideal of neutral social science owes more to a current political ideal of the liberal state than any truth about science. The book describes how theories are constructed and tested, how facts are predicted or explained, data collected and categorized, causes identified and findings presented in the social sciences, and explains why, though the methods are intended to be value-free, they end up being partisan.;Along with the description and criticism of the present philosophy of the social sciences, this book offers an alternative, intentionally partisan philosophy for the social sciences, based on ideals and methods for research and teaching that favour one conception of the good over others.;Rott includes examples of partisan research - including feminist social science - and explains how the research combines a code of ethics with the methods or protocols for doing science.
