Issues and themes in the contemporary social sciences are explored in a collection of papers by South African scholars. Thirty-five papers are organized by 10 themes. The first theme, metatheory in the social sciences, includes: "Beyond Relativism in the Natural and Social Sciences" (M. Hesse); and "A Critique of Bhaskar's Transformational Model of Social Activity" (R. Miller). The second theme, which covers recent trends in specific disciplines, includes: "Recent Trends in Psychological Methodology" (P. du Preez). The third theme, interpretation and rationality, includes: "Linguistic Models and Hermeneutics Methods: Rethinking Dilthey through Gadamer and Ricoeur" (T. Louw). The fourth theme, morality and ethics in the practice of social research, includes: "State Censorship, Research in the Human Sciences and Library Resources in South Africa" (C. Merrett). The fifth theme, cultural and media studies, includes: "Paradigms in Media Research" (P. Fourie). The sixth theme, discourses and power, includes: "Is Foucault's Project a Nihilistic One?" (C. Frigerio); and "Discourses on Childhood Sexual Abuse" (A. Levett). The seventh theme phenomenological and other qualitative views, includes: "Research and Reality: How Clinical Theory and Practice are Actually Developed--Case Study Method in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy" (D. Edwards); and "There's Method in Our Madness: A Deconstruction of the Paradigm Problem through Psychopathology" (S. O'Dowd). The eighth theme, issues of conceptualization in the study of government and law, includes: "Theoretical Approaches to the Study of State Bureaucracies: Some Preliminary Distinctions" (D. Atkinson); and "Rights-relativism in Afrikanerdom: Van Warmelo's Sociologism" (J. Hund). The ninth theme, understanding and explanation in anthropology, includes: "Understanding Other Societies through Anthropology" (P. A. Erasmus). The 10th theme, paradigmatic shifts in geography, planning theory and archaeology, includes: "Method in Archaeology: The Selfish Gene in the Prehistoric Mediterranean" (Z. van Straaten). (DB)