ABSTRACT
Any empirical work in the social sciences must expect to encounter a number of common problems. Basically, these fall into two broad categories; problems internal to the research enterprise, including the questions of objectivity, value-commitment, reliability and validity which all reflect the epistemological question of the relationship between the researcher, his theory and the subjects of his study; and problems which may be considered external to the research, foremost among which are the difficulties which arise out of the social and political context in which the study is situated. Given that the central objective of this book has been to consider various theoretical issues raised by recent work in urban sociology in the light of case study material, this final chapter is devoted to a discussion of the particular problems which confront empirical research in this field. Through a discussion of methodology, therefore, this chapter attempts to show how the empirical material considered in Part 2 of the book relates to the theoretical discussion in Part 1. While it in no way attempts to provide a conclusion or summary of the arguments developed in the previous eight chapters, it does attempt to set out a framework by means of which these arguments can be evaluated and assessed.
