'Research Methods': a compulsory course, loved by some but hated by many This stimulating book is about what went wrong with 'research methods'. Its controversial argument is radical, and at times, even revolutionary. John Law argues that methods don't just describe social realities but are also involved in creating them. The implications of this argument are highly significant, as if this is the case, methods are always political, and it raises the question of what kinds of social realities we want to create. Most current methods look for clarity and precision. It is usually said that only poor research produces messy findings, and the idea that things in the world might be fluid, elusive, or multiple is unthinkable. Law's startling argument is that this is wrong and it is time for a new approach. Many realities, he says, are vague and ephemeral. If methods want to know and to help to shape the world, then they need to reinvent themselves and their politics to deal with mess. That is the challenge. Nothing less will do. This book is essential reading for students, postgraduates and researchers with an interest methodology.

'Research Methods': a compulsory course, loved by some but hated by many! This stimulating book is about what went wrong with 'research methods'. Its controversial argument is radical, and at times, even revolutionary.
John Law argues that methods don't just describe social realities but are also involved in creating them. The implications of this argument are highly significant, as if this is the case, methods are always political, and it raises the question of what kinds of social realities we want to create.
Most current methods look for clarity and precision. It is usually said that only poor research produces messy findings, and the idea that things in the world might be fluid, elusive, or multiple is unthinkable. Law's startling argument is that this is wrong and it is time for a new approach. Many realities, he says, are vague and ephemeral. If methods want to know and to help to shape the world, then they need to reinvent themselves and their politics to deal with mess. That is the challenge. Nothing less will do.
This book is essential reading for students, postgraduates and researchers with an interest methodology.

The 1980s were some of the most tumultuous years for the British bus industry. The Thatcher Government, in power throughout the decade, brought about privatisation of the National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group. In addition, 1986 saw the introduction of full deregulation of bus services, with the exception of London. Don't think that London was unaffected by these changes though, as the omnibus operations of London Transport was split up and then sold into private hands. Deregulation meant competition and "bus wars" broke out in many parts of the country, sometimes in the most unexpected of places. However, towards the end of the decade, things began to settle down and we were able to witness the emergence of larger groups, for example Stagecoach. The author was fortunate enough to be able to capture the scene on colour film, right through the decade, and the best of his results are seen within these pages.

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. Polybius knew no Taurinian hyperbasis. The Po of Polybius. Looking at the period when Polybius wrote, one sees no reason that he should have heard of a Pass through those middle Alps, which Livy and Strabo alluded to in later times, one with the term Taurinos saltus, the other by i/irep/Sacri? Sia Tavplviov: and the feebleness of the light which those later writers throw on the Italian descent from those mountains, makes it probable that still less light had shone upon Polybius, who was fully 150 years earlier. Turin was founded by Augustus: and there are now three ready ways of going over the Alps from that place: one which, crossing the plain to Pinerolo, finds the valley of the Clusone, and goes over the Col de Sestriere before it brings you to Cesanue, and the Mont Genevre: one which goes up through Susa to Cesanne and the Mont Genevre: and a third, which, being the same to Susa, strikes northward from thence over the Mont Cenis. The first was probably opened by Pompey; and was used by Caesar sixteen years afterwards: the second was established by Augustus, who made it his approach to the same summit, when he was laying the foundations of his new city Augusta Taurinorum: the third, according to Mr. Ellis, is first named as crossed by Pepin in 755. See the Treatise, p. 159. Why must Polybius, who preceded Pompey by a century, have been acquainted with any pass through these Alps ? He was an enterprising traveller: but this region was not inviting: in matters of art and antiquity it had not the attraction which See Brockcdon's Passes of the Alps, i. p. 15.belonged to other parts of Italy, not the same interest from Greek connection. Strabo, v. 218, says of the Ligurians of the Appennine, that they lived in villages, and that their country...

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. Polybius knew no Taurinian hyperbasis. The Po of Polybius. Looking at the period when Polybius wrote, one sees no reason that he should have heard of a Pass through those middle Alps, which Livy and Strabo alluded to in later times, one with the term Taurinos saltus, the other by i/irep/Sacri? Sia Tavplviov: and the feebleness of the light which those later writers throw on the Italian descent from those mountains, makes it probable that still less light had shone upon Polybius, who was fully 150 years earlier. Turin was founded by Augustus: and there are now three ready ways of going over the Alps from that place: one which, crossing the plain to Pinerolo, finds the valley of the Clusone, and goes over the Col de Sestriere before it brings you to Cesanue, and the Mont Genevre: one which goes up through Susa to Cesanne and the Mont Genevre: and a third, which, being the same to Susa, strikes northward from thence over the Mont Cenis. The first was probably opened by Pompey; and was used by Caesar sixteen years afterwards: the second was established by Augustus, who made it his approach to the same summit, when he was laying the foundations of his new city Augusta Taurinorum: the third, according to Mr. Ellis, is first named as crossed by Pepin in 755. See the Treatise, p. 159. Why must Polybius, who preceded Pompey by a century, have been acquainted with any pass through these Alps ? He was an enterprising traveller: but this region was not inviting: in matters of art and antiquity it had not the attraction which See Brockcdon's Passes of the Alps, i. p. 15.belonged to other parts of Italy, not the same interest from Greek connection. Strabo, v. 218, says of the Ligurians of the Appennine, that they lived in villages, and that their country...

For the 2013 Hamlyn Lectures, Sir John Laws explored the constitutional balance between law and government in the United Kingdom. He argues that the unifying principle of the constitution is the common law and that its distinctive method has endowed the British State with profoundly beneficial effects, before examining two contemporary threats to the constitutional balance: extremism and the effect of Europe-made laws on the domestic English system.

What can one man accomplish, even a great man and brilliant scientist? Although every town in France has a street named for Pasteur, was he alone able to stop people from spitting, persuade them to dig drains, influence them to undergo vaccination? Pasteur's success depended upon a whole network of forces, including the public hygiene movement, the medical profession (both military physicians and private practitioners), and colonial interests. It is the operation of these forces, in combination with the talent of Pasteur, that Bruno Latour sets before us as a prime example of science in action.

Latour argues that the triumph of the biologist and his methodology must be understood within the particular historical convergence of competing social forces and conflicting interests. Yet Pasteur was not the only scientist working on the relationships of microbes and disease. How was he able to galvanize the other forces to support his own research? Latour shows Pasteur's efforts to win over the French public--the farmers, industrialists, politicians, and much of the scientific establishment.

Instead of reducing science to a given social environment, Latour tries to show the simultaneous building of a society and its scientific facts. The first section of the book, which retells the story of Pasteur, is a vivid description of an approach to science whose theoretical implications go far beyond a particular case study. In the second part of the book, "Irreductions," Latour sets out his notion of the dynamics of conflict and interaction, of the "relation of forces." Latour's method of analysis cuts across and through the boundaries of the established disciplines of sociology, history, and the philosophy of science, to reveal how it is possible not to make the distinction between reason and force. Instead of leading to sociological reductionism, this method leads to an unexpected irreductionism.

For the 2013 Hamlyn Lectures, Sir John Laws explored the constitutional balance between law and government in the United Kingdom. He argues that the unifying principle of the constitution is the common law and that its distinctive method has endowed the British State with profoundly beneficial effects, before examining two contemporary threats to the constitutional balance: extremism and the effect of Europe-made laws on the domestic English system.

The 1950s and 1960s were a transformative period in Britain, and an important part of this was how Britons' lives were changed when they began flying abroad for their holidays. In A World Away Michael John Law investigates how something that previously only the rich could afford became available to working-class holidaymakers. A World Away moves beyond the big players in the tourist industry and technical accounts of the airplanes used by tour operators to tell the histories of the people who were there, both tourists and tour guides, using their personal testimonies. Until now there has been uncertainty about the identity of these new tourists: some feared they were working-class intruders who might invade the pristine destinations favoured by the elite; others claimed that most were from the middle class. Using new data derived from flight accident investigations, Law explains the complex origins of these new flyers. In British society this unprecedented mobility could not go unpunished, and the new tourists were lampooned in books and newspapers aimed at the middle classes. Law shows how popular culture, movies, and music influenced the decision to travel, and what actually happened when these new holidaymakers went abroad. Law investigates the package tour industry from its mid-century origins through its inherent weaknesses, governmental interference, and unforeseen world events that contributed to its partial failure in the early 1970s. A World Away provides the definitive account of this important change in postwar British society.

In the 1970s the main UK bus groups were the National Bus Company, the Scottish Bus Group, the Passenger Transport Executives and various council owned concerns. Today we have Stagecoach, First and Arriva, plus several smaller groups, with just a handful of councils still owning bus operations. Throughout these major changes to the bus industry, there have been hundreds of smaller independent bus companies running stage carriage services on the roads of the United Kingdom. In this book we look at these, from the small operators with just one or two buses, to the larger fleets, such as Lancashire United. Many independent companies have, since the 1970s, been swallowed up by larger groups one or two have ceased trading. However, many are still thriving and other operators have taken the place of those that we've lost. Deregulation in 1986 brought a host of new bus operators, competing for business with the companies that had run their services for many years. Inevitably, there were some casualties, but today the independent bus sector is alive and well. The purpose of this book is to illustrate the great variety of independent buses that have graced Britain's roads, from the early 1970s to the present day.

In 1938: Modern Britain, Michael John Law demonstrates that our understanding of life in Britain just before the Second World War has been overshadowed by its dramatic political events. 1938 was the last year of normality, and Law shows through a series of case studies that in many ways life in that year was far more modern than might have been thought. By considering topics as diverse as the opening of a new type of pub, the launch of several new magazines, the emergence of push-button radios and large screen televisions sets, and the building of a huge office block, he reveals a Britain, both modern and intrigued by its own modernity, that was stopped in its tracks by war and the austerity that followed. For some, life in Britain was as consumerist, secular, Americanized and modern as it would become for many in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Presenting a fresh perspective on an important year in British social history, illuminated by six engaging case studies, this is a key study for students and scholars of 20th-century Britain.

Two large bus companies once ruled this rural part of the United Kingdom. Midland Red had the territory around Shrewsbury and Eastern Shropshire, while Crosville operated from Oswestry to Aberystwyth and all the places in between. Prior to privatisation both companies were split, with Midland Red North and Crosville Wales taking over. These eventually became part of British Bus and were later incorporated into Deutsche Bahn-owned Arriva. Despite the domination of the big boys, there has always been room for the independent sector and even today a good number of small firms running bus services can be found. Minsterley Motors, Owen's Coaches, Lloyd's of Machynlleth and Tanat Valley are just a few of the present-day operators. Names from the past include Vagg's Coaches, Mid Wales Motorways and Williamsons, plus a host of others. John Law has been photographing the buses of the area since the early 1970s and has built up a vast collection, the best and most interesting of which are included here. He takes us to Llanrhaedr-yn-Mochnant, Bishops Castle, Knockin Heath and Stiperstones, as well as the major towns on his journey through this fascinating area.

Although much recent social science and humanities work has been a revolt against simplification, this volume explores the contrast between simplicity and complexity to reveal that this dichotomy, itself, is too simplistic. John Law and Annemarie Mol have gathered a distinguished panel of contributors to offer--particularly within the field of science studies--approaches to a theory of complexity, and at the same time a theoretical introduction to the topic. Indeed, they examine not only ways of relating to complexity but complexity "in practice."
Individual essays study complexity from a variety of perspectives, addressing market behavior, medical interventions, aeronautical design, the governing of supranational states, ecology, roadbuilding, meteorology, the science of complexity itself, and the psychology of childhood trauma. Other topics include complex wholes (holism) in the sciences, moral complexity in seemingly amoral endeavors, and issues relating to the protection of African elephants. With a focus on such concepts as multiplicity, partial connections, and ebbs and flows, the collection includes narratives from Kenya, Great Britain, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, France, and the meetings of the European Commission, written by anthropologists, economists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of science, technology, and society.

"Contributors." Andrew Barry, Steven D. Brown, Michel Callon, Chunglin Kwa, John Law, Nick Lee, Annemarie Mol, Marilyn Strathern, Laurent Thevenot, Charis Thompson

Online Learning, Instruction, and Research in Post-Pandemic Higher Education in Africa, edited by Martin Munyao, brings together interdisciplinary authors to address online learning, teaching online, educational technology, online/remote research, institutional collaboration in online higher education, and teaching STEM online. This book argues that beyond survival, universities need to adapt to technology-mediated communication learning to thrive. Disruptive technologies have recently proved to be means of thriving for institutions of higher learning. This is what one contributor calls 'switching to SIDE-mode.' They call for not just teaching for the sake of it, but teaching to communicate and to achieve the desired learning outcomes that seek to transform the whole person. Effective technology mediated teaching for communication does exactly that. Because universities are also research hubs, this book also addresses remote research. It reflects on how change in teaching and learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has impacted Africa through digital transformation. In particular, institutions are collaborating more now than ever before. Finally, this book addresses the challenges of teaching STEM programs online in Africa.