This book offers a guide to sociology that explores its theoretical and methodological dimensions. Aiming to provide the reader with a sense of the reasoned character of the discipline, it traces how different theories and methods relate to one another, exploring the particular problems they spawn and the debates that have arisen in response.

JOHN HUGHES has published widely in the fields of political socialization, political sociology, and research methods. WES SHARROCK is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests include philosophical methodology, sociology of science/knowledge, ethnomethodology and methodology.