This book provides theoretically informed guidance to practicing the key research methods for investigating society and culture. It is a text in both methods and methodology, in which the importance of understanding the historical, theoretical and institutional context in which particular methods have developed is stressed. The contributors of the 22 essays in the book are (or were) members of the Sociology Department of Goldsmiths College, University of London. The book is divided into four parts: the first discusses the philosophy of social science, developments in social theory, methodology and the use of historical perspectives in research. Part 2 explores considerations of importance at the beginning of a research project and discusses the writing of research proposals. The third part covers a full range of the methods in use by social and cultural researchers, ranging from statistical and survey work to a variety of qualitative approaches, and ends with a chapter on reading and writing research. The book concludes with a series of workshop and discussion exercises, tailored to each chapter, and designed to give student practical experience in using these methods. Essays in the book are: (1) "Introduction" (Clive Seale); (2) "Selected Issues in the Philosophy of Social Science" (David Lazar); (3) "Developments in Social Theory" (Paul Filmer, Chris Jenks, Clive Seale, and David Walsh); (4) "Feminist Methodology" (Heather Brunskell); (5) "Gender, Ethnicity, and Fieldwork: A Case Study" (Anne-Marie Fortier); (6) "The History of the Social Survey" (Fran Tonkiss); (7) "Historical and Comparative Research" (Josep Llobera); (8) "Research and Social Policy" (David Silverman); (9) "Research and Social Theory" (David Silverman); (10) "Writing a Research Proposal" (Moira Kelly); (11) "Doing Social Surveys" (Clive Seale and Paul Filmer); (12) "Coding and Analysing Data" (Clive Seale and Moira Kelly); (13) "Statistical Reasoning: From One to Two Variables" (Clive Seale); (14) "Statistical Reasoning: Causal Arguments and Multivariate Analysis" (Clive Seale); (15) "Using Official Statistics" (Don Slater); (16) "Qualitative Interviewing" (Clive Seale); (17) "Doing Ethnography" (David Walsh); (18) "Analysing Cultural Objects: Content Analysis and Semiotics" (Don Slater); (19) "Analysing Discourse" (Fran Tonkiss); (20) "Analysing Conversation" (David Silverman); (21) "Analysing Literary Texts" (Paul Filmer); and (22) "Reading and Writing Research" (Les Back). (Contains approximately 400 references and a 58-item glossary.) (RS)