ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of Part 1 of the Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies, ‘Methods and Principles of Research in Working-Class Studies’, and poses the questions: What methods are needed to capture the changing nature of work and capitalism, new types of work and workers, and how people understand their class position? What methods can help us gain a better understanding of how class works in the 21st century? The chapter makes the case that there are no research methods that are unique to the field; rather, its practitioners utilize a variety of methods, but in doing so pay careful attention to using those methods in ways that are consistent with the ethos of the field. In addition, contributors to this section of the Handbook make the case that some methods are well-suited to the aims and ethos of the field, while others make that work more difficult.
