Readings in Methodology: African Perspectives

Description

One of the weaknesses of research in Africa is the little consideration that is given to questions of epistemology and methodology. What we see is the trivialization of research protocols which, consequently, are reduced to fantasy prescriptions that detach social studies from universal debates over the validity of science rather than an interrogation of research procedures induced by the complexity of social dynamics. As a result, social sciences have become an imitative discourse and a recital of exotic anecdotes without perspectives. Knowledge production therefore loses any heuristic bearing. It is on the basis of this reality that attempts to correct this tendency have been made in this book by discussing the methodological foundation of social science knowledge. This volume is a collection of papers presented during methodological workshops organized by CODESRIA. Its objective is to revitalize theory and methodology in field work in Africa while contributing to the creation of a critical space hinged upon the mastery of epistemological bases which are indispensable to any scientific imagination. Far from being a collection of technical certainties and certified methods, this book interrogates the uncertain itinerary of the process of social logics discovery. In that sense, it is a decisive step towards a critical systemization of ongoing theories and practices within the African scientific community. The reader can, therefore, identify the philosophical, historical, sociological and anthropological foundations of object construction, field data exploitation and research results delivery. This book explains the importance of the philosophical and social modalities of scientific practice, the influence of local historical contexts, the different usages of new investigative tools, including the audiovisual tools. Finally, the book, backed by classical theories, serves as an invitation toward considering scientific commitment to African field research from a reflective perspective. Cover; Title page; Copyright page; Dedication; Contents; Contributors; Introduction: Questions of Method; PART ONE - SOCIAL REASONS FOR SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE; 1. Pragmatism as a Vision of the World and as a Method: A Philosophical Examination of the Challenges Presented to Contemporary Social Research by Subjective Idealism; 2. The Alchemis and the Apprentice Myth-Hunter, Comments on Social Engineering in African Social Sciences; PART TWO - LOGICS OF DISCOVERY; 3. An Introduction to the Epistemology of the Social Sciences 4. Reasons and Causes: Wittgenstein versus The Myth of Causal Explanation in the Social Sciences 5. Scientific Logics and Methodologies; 6. Construction of the Subject as a Practice of Clarification of Social Relationships; PART THREE - CONTEXTUAL DETERMINATIONS; 7. Moroccan Sociology: Epistemological Preliminaries; 8. Autochthones Making their Realities Strange in Order to Better Understand Them; PART FOUR - TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATION; 9. Life History and the Writing of Ethnography: The Case of Morocco; 10. Audiovisual Instruments in Ethnographic Research 11. Establishing an Observation, Producing a Discourse, Illustrating Results Possibilities for the Photographic Tool 12. Comparison: A foundational Approach in the Social Sciences; PART FIVE - WRITING AND RESEARCH; 13. Writing in the Social Sciences: From Field Notes to Scientific Reports; Back cover