In this innovative introduction to research in the social and human
sciences, Valerie Malhotra Bentz and Jeremy J. Shapiro guide
students through the maze of research traditions, cultures of
inquiry, and epistemological frameworks that blanket the
intellectual landscape. The goal of their approach is to help the
researcher survive and flourish in today's often confusing
multicultural, multiparadigm research environment where disciplines
overlap. Postmodernism and multiculturalism have shattered the
traditional unitary model of scientific research; and the emerging
global, informational economy is producing new economic, social,
cultural, and political problems and new research questions. Their
solution is mindful inquiry-empowering the researcher both
psychologically and philosophically by putting the researcher,
rather than research techniques, at the center of the research
process. The mindful inquirer uses awareness of self-personal,
social, and historical - to shape the research project or
dissertation and keep it expressive and responsible to the
traditions of scholarly research. While grounding their own
approach in a synthesis of critical theory, phenomenology,
hermeneutics, and Buddhism, Bentz and Shapiro explain the forces
that have produced the current epistemological crisis and introduce
the reader to the underlying logic, rather than the detailed
methods and techniques, of 10 cultures of inquiry-ethnography,
quantitative behavioral science, phenomenology, action research,
hermeneutics, evaluation research, feminist research, critical
social science, historical-comparative research, and theoretical
research. Mindful Inquiry in Social Research not only clarifies
conceptual and intellectual traditions in research but also puts
researchers squarely in the investigative saddle, able to choose,
justify, and explain the intellectual framework and personal
rationale of their research. For many students, beginning
researchers, and scholarly practitioners, Mindful Inquiry in Social
Research will provide clarity, grounding, and good preparation for
a challenging research task such as a dissertation, thesis, major
paper, or professional research project. While helping the
researcher survive epistemological diversity, it will also help
turn the research project into a positive contribution to the
researcher's life and personal development, rather that a detour or
a hindrance.
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