Real Social Science
Applied Phronesis

A new, hands-on approach to social inquiry for social scientists who wish to make a difference to policy and practice.

Bent Flyvbjerg (Edited by), Todd Landman (Edited by), Sanford Schram (Edited by)

9781107000254, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 April 2012

322 pages, 3 b/w illus. 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.64 kg

'Perhaps most importantly, [phronetic social science] articulates a position that is a coherent alternative to both interpretivism and positivism, two poles around which so much social science inquiry has been framed. It also properly sidelines methodological questions - and debates about whether qualitative or quantitative data should be collected - by foregrounding the research question and emphasizing that the research question should matter. This is important as taught programmes on doctoral research in the social sciences spend considerable time teaching students how to conduct research and very little on how to formulate important research questions, which is where Flyvbjerg's idea of 'tension points' should be especially helpful. The literature on phronesis now includes, thanks to this book, quite detailed descriptions of how one should conduct phronetic research. We can only hope to see much more of this type of research in the future.' Ephemera

Real Social Science presents a new, hands-on approach to social inquiry. The theoretical and methodological ideas behind the book, inspired by Aristotelian phronesis, represent an original perspective within the social sciences, and this volume gives readers for the first time a set of studies exemplifying what applied phronesis looks like in practice. The reflexive analysis of values and power gives new meaning to the impact of research on policy and practice. Real Social Science is a major step forward in a novel and thriving field of research. This book will benefit scholars, researchers and students who want to make a difference in practice, not just in the academy. Its message will make it essential reading for students and academics across the social sciences.

1. Introduction: new directions in social science Bent Flyvbjerg, Todd Landman and Sanford Schram
2. Phronetic social science: an idea whose time has come Sanford Schram
3. Phronesis and narrative analysis Todd Landman
4. The feel for power games: everyday phronesis and social theory Arthur W. Frank
5. Phronesis, projects and power research Stewart R. Clegg and Tyrone S. Pitsis
6. Why mass media matter, and how to work with them: phronesis and megaprojects Bent Flyvbjerg
7. Power and conflict in collaborative research Corey Shdaimah and Roland Stahl
8. Unsettling a settler society: film, phronesis and collaborative planning in small-town Canada Leonie Sandercock and Giovanni Attili
9. Phronesis and critical policy analysis: Heathrow's 'third runway' and the politics of sustainable aviation in the UK Steve Griggs and David Howarth
10. Amnesty in the age of accountability: Brazil in comparative context Tricia D. Olsen, Leigh A. Payne and Andrew G. Reiter
11. Feminist phronesis and technologies of citizenship Virginia Eubanks
12. Making the teaching of social justice matter William Paul Simmons
13. Spatial phronesis: a case study in geosurveillance Ranu Basu
14. Important next steps in phronetic social science Bent Flyvbjerg, Todd Landman and Sanford Schram.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Social theory [JHBA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]