ABSTRACT
The aim of this book and of this chapter is to enhance the reader’s awareness of the different traditions that characterize social and economic research, the historical basis of these traditions and their impact upon the actual process of research. It is our view that such awareness can be enhanced by reading about how researchers approach their work. Hence the implicit autobiographical nature of the several chapters in this book. However, a deeper understanding of a particular tradition can only be attained through immersion in the discourse of that tradition. That is, an actual involvement in the methodology and practice of other, alternative perhaps competing approaches is required. Such involvement not only enhances an appreciation of what others are up to but also enhances a process of self-reflexivity which can only serve to improve our individual critical insight.
