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Techniques of Close Reading, Second Edition helps you gain a deeper understanding of what texts may be saying, whether they are written, oral, visual, or mediated. Renowned scholar and professor Barry Brummett explains and explores the various ways to "read" messages (such as speeches, cartoons, or magazine ads), teaching you how to see deeper levels of meaning and to share those insights with others. You will learn techniques for discovering form, rhetorical tropes, argument, and ideologies within texts. New to the Second Edition: A new Chapter 6 includes a selection of techniques from each chapter to show you how different techniques may be used together when reading text. A close reading of a group of ads from the insurance company, Liberty Mutual, offers you an opportunity to apply the techniques to recent texts.
`An excellent book that provides a good deal of valuable material to stimulate debate and to alert readers of the need to engage more critically with the wider world in which social work is located′ - Professor Keith Popple, Professor of Social Work London South Bank University This exciting book draws together the key contemporary theories, theorists and perspectives used in social work and explains how they are applied in practice and critiqued by social workers. It provides: - An outline of the contribution made by a key theorist, theory or perspective to social work - A selective bibliography of each thinker or approach - A glossary defining key traditions, with cross links to key theorists and perspectives - A timeline of key publications - Study questions at the end of each chapter. The book will be valuable for undergraduate, graduate students, post qualifying students and researchers in social work.
The volume addresses major features in empirical social research from methodological and theoretical perspectives. Prominent researchers discuss central problems in empirical social research in a theory-driven way from political science, sociological or social-psychological points of view. These contributions focus on a renewed discussion of foundations together with innovative and open research questions or interdisciplinary research perspectives.
Origins We call this book on theoretical orientations and methodological strategies in family studies a sourcebook because it details the social and personal roots (i.e., sources) from which these orientations and strategies flow. Thus, an appropriate way to preface this book is to talk first of its roots, its beginnings. In the mid 1980s there emerged in some quarters the sense that it was time for family studies to take stock of itself. A goal was thus set to write a book that, like Janus, would face both backward and forward a book that would give readers both a perspec tive on the past and a map for the future. There were precedents for such a project: The Handbook of Marriage and the Family edited by Harold Christensen and published in 1964; the two Contemporary Theories about theFamily volumes edited by Wesley Burr, Reuben Hill, F. Ivan Nye, and Ira Reiss, published in 1979; and the Handbook of Marriage and the Family edited by Marvin Sussman and Suzanne Steinmetz, then in production.
Click ′Additional Materials′ to read the foreword by Jerald Hage As straightforward as its title, How to Build Social Science Theories sidesteps the well-traveled road of theoretical examination by demonstrating how new theories originate and how they are elaborated. Essential reading for students of social science research, this book traces theories from their most rudimentary building blocks (terminology and definitions) through multivariable theoretical statements, models, the role of creativity in theory building, and how theories are used and evaluated. Authors Pamela J. Shoemaker, James William Tankard, Jr., and Dominic L. Lasorsa intend to improve research in many areas of the social sciences by making research more theory-based and theory-oriented. The book begins with a discussion of concepts and their theoretical and operational definitions. It then proceeds to theoretical statements, including hypotheses, assumptions, and propositions. Theoretical statements need theoretical linkages and operational linkages; this discussion begins with bivariate relationships, as well as three-variable, four-variable, and further multivariate relationships. The authors also devote chapters to the creative component of theory-building and how to evaluate theories. How to Build Social Science Theories is a sophisticated yet readable analysis presented by internationally known experts in social science methodology. It is designed primarily as a core text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in communication theory. It will also be a perfect addition to any course dealing with theory and research methodology across the social sciences. Additionally, professional researchers will find it an indispensable guide to the genesis, dissemination, and evaluation of social science theories.
What is it to be scientific? Is there such a thing as scientific method? And if so, how might such methods be justified? Robert Nola and Howard Sankey seek to provide answers to these fundamental questions in their exploration of the major recent theories of scientific method. Although for many scientists their understanding of method is something they just pick up in the course of being trained, Nola and Sankey argue that it is possible to be explicit about what this tacit understanding of method is, rather than leave it as some unfathomable mystery. They robustly defend the idea that there is such a thing as scientific method and show how this might be legitimated. This book begins with the question of what methodology might mean and explores the notions of values, rules and principles, before investigating how methodologists have sought to show that our scientific methods are rational. Part 2 of this book sets out some principles of inductive method and examines its alternatives including abduction, IBE, and hypothetico-deductivism. Part 3 introduces probabilistic modes of reasoning, particularly Bayesianism in its various guises, and shows how it is able to give an account of many of the values and rules of method. Part 4 considers the ideas of philosophers who have proposed distinctive theories of method such as Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend and Part 5 continues this theme by considering philosophers who have proposed naturalised theories of method such as Quine, Laudan and Rescher. This book offers readers a comprehensive introduction to the idea of scientific method and a wide-ranging discussion of how historians of science, philosophers of science and scientists have grappled with the question over the last fifty years.
"Does social work need another theory book? The answer has to be a resounding 'yes'. This is a broad-based, authoritative and above all, accessible introduction to some key theories in social work. Each chapter follows a logical structure, beginning with the theory explained and moving onto basic assumptions, using theory in practice, strengths and limitations and wider considerations. The book will be useful for social work students and educators alike." Professor Viviene E. Cree, School of Social & Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, UK This practical book provides a basic introduction to the most commonly used theories and methods in social work practice. The book explores the concept of a theory and a method, the difference between the two and the ways in which they are connected. Teater also discusses the social worker-client relationship and offers a handy overview of anti-oppressive practice. Assuming little to no prior knowledge, each chapter explores a single theory or method in depth and uses a variety of interactive tools to encourage you to explore your own thoughts and beliefs. Step-by-step illustrations show how to apply the theory/method to a social work case example and exercises, questions, diagrams, tables and figures all encourage further learning. An Introduction to Applying Social Work Theories and Methods is a practical guide for social work students to use both in the classroom and as a reference guide while on placement. Equally, this book is a useful reference for social work practitioners. Contributor David Kondrat
Human Security Studies: Theories, Methods and Themes examines the concept of human security from different theoretical and methodological perspectives and shows how they help shed light on the different themes of global intervention. Liberal perspectives, represented by global legalism and developmentalism, share the optimism that human security can be ensured and enhanced through strengthening global governance. Realists remain skeptical about this liberal vision. While also critical of the liberal promise, critical theorists and feminists offer radical perspectives on human security. All these perspectives help explain the challenges of military intervention for human protection, micro-disarmament, international criminal justice, smart sanctions, human rights and democracy promotion, and human development.
The current book contributes to the complicated discussion of knowledge construction by demonstrating how social scientific theories of diverse subject matter in sociology, criminology, and psychology can be contextualized and operationalized from distinct paradigms. Each chapter introduces one or more theoretical perspectives as the authors examine, explicitly or implicitly, the epistemological foundations for how one might evaluate the main concepts and establish valid truth claims. No one pathway to such truth claims exists, as the diverse perspectives that these authors embrace shall demonstrate. The monograph thus intentionally includes a range of theoretical perspectives and methodologies to highlight the case for what might be designated as scientific equifinality. In effect, the notion suggests that more than one pathway can be selected to help observers move closer and closer to the truth, but each perspective shares in common the assumption that rigorous methodologies are required that transcend mere personal opinion. The edited volume, therefore, promotes the value of intellectual diversity among social scientists, while concurrently building upon a common theme. Despite the limitations of observing the social world from their peculiar social locations, analysts nevertheless can do a more effective job of wrestling with the truth by employing rigorous methodologies connected to their theoretical stances. As argued in the first chapter, it requires the overcoming of several inertial conditions that often inhibit the search for deep knowledge of the subject matter. Subsequent chapters demonstrate that, in a variety of creative ways, researchers can develop and implement innovative approaches to the study of the social world. The book stands resolutely in opposition to the post-truth narrative currently in vogue, where no one can claim to have any more reliable or credible information than anyone else.
The four-volume set LNCS 8517, 8518, 8519 and 8520 constitutes the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Design, User Experience and Usability, DUXU 2014, held as part of the 16th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2014, held in Heraklion, Crete, Greece in June 2014, jointly with 13 other thematically similar conferences. The total of 1476 papers and 220 posters presented at the HCII 2014 conferences were carefully reviewed and selected from 4766 submissions. These papers address the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of design and use of computing systems. The papers accepted for presentation thoroughly cover the entire field of Human-Computer Interaction, addressing major advances in knowledge and effective use of computers in a variety of application areas. The total of 256 contributions included in the DUXU proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in this four-volume set. The 66 papers included in this volume are organized in topical sections on design theories, methods and tools; user experience evaluation; heuristic evaluation; media and design; design and creativity.