No historical figures appear in The Pirate, and there are no historical events, but it is still an historical novel because it dramatises those 'corners of time' where an old era is coming to an end, and a new is beginning. The novel is set in Orkney and Shetland in 1689, and for the northern isles the 'Glorious Revolution' actually means the beginning of the cultural dominance of Scotland and the advent of English power. Scott draws heavily on the diary he kept on his tour round the lighthouses of Scotland in 1814. In both the diary and the novel he weighs the real need to improve the agricultural methods of this barely subsistence economy against the force of tradition and the human cost of rapid change. The plot hinges on an illicit relationship, and is driven by dark men twisted by their criminality, an obsessed woman searching for her lost son, and the murderous rivalry of two young men - a family tale which illustrates the uses and abuses of traditional lore, as well as Scott's extraordinary grasp of the literature of the north.

Meg Dods, a sentimental virago, keeps a rundown inn in a derelict Tweedale village, while the young Laird is living way beyond his means. When a nearby spring becomes a Spa, life changes as a hotel and a troop of social climbers move in. But this is not a tale of antique virtue giving way to decadent ostentation: although the gang at the 'Well' dance the seven deadly sins, everyone in the book has feet of clay.

A Critical Introduction to Social Research is the new, updated and improved edition of A Short Introduction to Social Research. This book introduces students and researchers to the key ideas and issues that inform research practice. In it, Henn, Weinstein and Foard provide a clear and easy-to-understand route-map to help the reader plan their research project from beginning to end. A Critical Introduction is perfect for use on introductory methods courses and is also an invaluable guide for the first time researcher embarking on their own small-scale research project. This new second edition now features updated chapters which reflect recent debates and developments in the field, including: - New coverage of emancipatory and feminist approaches; - Comparative research methods, evaluation research, and action research; - Online research; - Glossary of key terms; - Revised further reading sections at the end of each chapter which include peer-reviewed research articles. This book aims to prepare students and new researchers for their research project. Brilliantly written throughout, this is your essential guide to the theory of research, the practice of research and the best ways to plan and manage your research.

The logic of inquiry requires a renegotiation of truth, a concept of truth that emerges as inquiry progresses. The model of emerging truth (MET) attempts to capture this in a metamathematical construction, drawing upon the structure of physical chemistry as a paradigm of successful inquiry. The MET yields a hierarchical theory of warrant strength relevant to both formal and informal logic. The book situates the MET within the context of argumentation theory, informal logic and critical thinking. It contrasts the naturalistic approach of a science-based account of logic and epistemology with the work of Harvey Siegel, James Freeman and Robert Pinto. It draws upon Stephen Toulmin's notion of warrant, a core insight of Rudolf Carnap and a suggestion by David Hitchcock. The application of the MET to the theory of argument reflects both the concerns of informal logicians and recent work in adaptive logic by Christian Strasser and Dunja Seselja. It refl ects Hilary Putnam's notion of internal realism in support of a naturalistic ontology as the basis for the truth predicate defined in the MET and supports a shift in argumentation theory from dialectics to epistemology."