Writing the second edition
I have been working on this new edition for the last four years or so, and although it has largely been a labour of love, it is pleasing to get it to full term and see the infant delivered. My main task has been to try to get my head around the many and varied developments in social research methods and methodology which have taken place over the decade or so intervening since I wrote the first edition. There is a general updating and bringing in the new which, I hope, establishes this as a text speaking to the early years of the twenty first century rather than the last decade of the twentieth. However, quite a few "golden oldie" references remain. It would, in my view, be a great pity if, in striving to be up to date, reference to wise and humane texts such as Kaplan¹s "The Conduct of Inquiry" were to be omitted simply because they appeared nearly half a century ago.
I have worried away at two aspects. Firstly, what typology is most appropriate when setting out general strategies of doing social research? The 1993 edition opted for a three-fold experiment/survey/case study split. This has the advantage of being readily understandable (and of highlighting the fact that much applied, real world, study has a direct concern with the "case" being studied), but it had an admitted lack of logical foundation. I am now much happier talking in terms of "fixed" and "flexible" designs; making the split between designs (such as experiments and surveys) which are essentially pre-structured before the main data collection exercise begins, and those which are flexible (such as case studies, but also including other traditions of largely qualitative research) in that the design and approach is open to modification and change as the research proceeds.
The second covers what I came to view as a rather glaring inconsistency in the first edition. At several points I stressed the need for theory in doing quality research; but wrote an essentially atheoretical text! I am not naturally theoretically inclined, and certainly no philosopher, and hence approached this topic with no little fear and trepidation. As discussed in the preface to the second edition, converging currents have led me to advocacy of a so-called "critical realist" position. My view is that this theoretical stance, highly influential within the philosophies of natural and social science, provides a viable alternative to discredited positivist approaches and essentially nonscientific relativist ones. To date, however, relatively few researchers have been avowedly realist and practical examples of "how to do it" are sparse. My hope is that this text will encourage others to follow what appears to me to be an exciting and potentially fruitful path.
Some reassurance to potential readers simply wanting to get on with carrying out real world research: while I do believe that coming to terms with these theoretical issues will help you do better research, the text remains one which seeks to provide practical and down-to-earth advice on all aspects of the research process. I have learned a lot from writing it. I hope that it helps you in the challenging task of doing real world research.
Colin Robson
