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Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Series foreword -- 1 Defining key terms -- 2 A history -- 2.1 Starting points and forerunners -- 2.2 The rise and fall of classic community studies -- 2.3 Reconsideration and renewal -- 3 Three exemplars -- 3.1 Divisions of Labour -- 3.2 The British on the Costa del Sol -- 3.3 The Other Side of Middletown -- 4 Worthwhileness -- 4.1 Useful and interesting research -- 4.2 Interesting and useful research -- 4.3 The capacity to surprise -- 5 Criticisms and defences -- 5.1 Are community studies too parochial? -- 5.2 Are community studies too static? -- 5.3 Are community studies too positive? -- 5.4 Are community studies too descriptive? -- 5.5 Are community studies too prosaic? -- 6 Summary and where next? -- References -- Index.

This collection revisits Ray Pahl's 1984 sociology classic, combining excerpts from the original with assessments by leading researchers of how and why the book has stood the test of time as a study that fundamentally re-thinks our understanding of 'work'

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction: the importance of sociological argument -- 2 Karl Marx: sociology as radical criticism -- Introduction and overview -- Marx's method of presentation -- Scientific and historical comparisons -- The moral critique of capitalism -- 3 Emile Durkheim: sociology as the identification of social facts -- Introduction and overview -- The distinctiveness of sociological explanations -- Social facts and the power of logical argument -- Sociological paradoxes -- 4 Max Weber: sociology as the science of interpretive understanding -- Introduction and overview -- Ideal types and one-sided accentuation -- Multi-causality, methodological individualism and typologies -- Values and vocations -- 5 Talcott Parsons: sociology as systematic reflection -- Introduction and overview -- Standing on the shoulders of giants -- The systematic differentiation of social roles -- Functionalist explanations -- 6 Charles Wright Mills: sociology as an imaginative craft -- Introduction and overview -- Thinking big and being bold -- The exercise of imagination -- Plain speaking -- 7 Erving Goffman: sociology as an eye for detail -- Introduction and overview -- Funny things and serious matters -- Metaphors of social life -- Understatement and implicit messages -- 8 Michel Foucault: sociology as shocking -- Introduction and overview -- The history of the present -- Disciplinary narratives and discourses -- Leaving things open -- 9 Ann Oakley: sociology as emancipation -- Introduction and overview -- The sociological unimagination -- Personal and political agendas -- Novel forms of sociological argument -- 10 Conclusion -- The development of sociological arguments -- Personal and public agendas -- The art of sociological argument -- Bibliography -- Index.

This article reports on the use of photo-elicitation in a mixed methods study of academics' later careers and retirement. Interviewees, who were either in their later career stage or retired from university work, were asked during the interviews to discuss the resonance that pre-selected images had with their understanding of retirement. Despite reluctance on some participants' part to engage with the images, the majority took the opportunity to elaborate on themes of time, purpose, trajectories, hopes, and fears, rejecting images that they considered stereotypically negative. The argument is made that photo-elicitation's pioneers have served subsequent users of the method well by being candid about its challenges as well as its potential and by encouraging creativity and flexibility in its application rather than presenting a set way to proceed. Because research does not always go according to plan, photo-elicitation's potential for creative and flexible use recommends it to both novice and established practitioners, possibly as a complement to other methods in mixed methods projects.

Collaborative research has grown remarkably in social science, bringing many benefits. Arguments for collaborative research are sometimes overstated, however, and this risks counterproductive consequences. In particular, the presentation of how collaborative research relates to other approaches to research may be problematic. Four issues are explored, concerning the potential consequences of: paying insufficient attention to history; conflating different and better; advancing simplified accounts of complex issues; and courting conflict. These discussions relate to cautionary tales involving diverse emotions: hope and disappointment, pride and shame, love and anger, and hubris and humility. All are variations on the theme that exaggerating a case can unintentionally hamper rather than assist the achievement of high quality, socially useful research. The conclusion advances a methodological pluralist stance, treating collaborative research as one option available to researchers rather than an inherently superior approach, thereby encouraging mutual tolerance and constructive dialogue while reducing the risk of reigniting oppositional 'paradigm wars'.

Community re-studies can inform our understanding of what members of communities want from research and the extent to which they feel that they get it. The history of community research suggests that what is expected of researchers by community members can differ from what it is felt that they actually deliver, especially if the published reports have a critical edge. Challenges relating to this legacy of previous studies can be encountered by researchers returning to fieldwork locations. Re-studies also provide opportunities to rectify matters, but these may be beyond the control of researchers who go back to communities studied previously.