Knowing the social world : perspectives and possibilities / edited by N. Jayaram.

"A three-day seminar held at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, in March 2013 ..."--Preface.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:
Preface
Introduction: Towards Knowing the Social World by N. Jayaram.

I. Positivism and the Canonical Tradition: Generalising Social Reality:
1. Knowing the Social World through Census: Reflections on the Conditions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes/R. B. Bhagat.
2. Analysing the Economic Effects of Age Structure Transition: Towards a New Methodology/M. R. Narayana.
3. Statistical Methods and Political Analysis: Examining the Economic Vote in India s Parliamentary Elections/Siddharth Swaminathan.
4. Randomised Controlled Trials and Programme Evaluations: Our Experience and Lessons/D. Rajasekhar, E. Berg and R. Manjula.

II. Beyond Positivism: Understanding Social Reality:
1. Deciphering Development-induced Displacement: Method, Memory and Motive in Empirical Research/Sthitapragyan Ray.
2. Ethnography in the Study of Changing Agricultural Practices: Reflections on Research Experiences and Ethnography/Vineetha Menon.
3. Studying Youth across Tradition and Modernity: A Multisite, Interdisciplinary Endeavour/Mamatha Karollil.
4. Exploring the Underworld: Some Methodological Challenges/Vijay Raghavan.
5. Narrative Analysis in Doctor Patient Interaction: Reflections on the Context/Mathew George.
6. Atlas.ti and Formulation of Grounded Theory: Understanding Entrepreneurship Using Qualitative Data/Anirban Sengupta.

III. Forays into Unconventional Sources: Archives, Court Records, Autobiographies and Photographs: 1. Use of Archives in Social Research/Meeta Rajivlochan and M. Rajivlochan.
2. Trials on Record: Understanding Legal Constructions of Violence against Women through Court Records/Sawmya Ray.
3. Reading the Social in Autobiographies: A Glimpse into Everyday Life and History/Rukmini Sen.
4. Photography s Methodological Absence in Social Anthropology in South Asia: Some Preliminary Thoughts for Consideration/Sasanka Perera.

IV. The Researcher and the Field: Personal Location and Social Experience:
1. Researching the Khasi: Encounter with the Self/Tiplut Nongbri.
2. Fielding One s Own: Prospects and Dilemmas in Researching Women s Collective Organising from Within/Shaila Desouza.
3. Exploration into the Life and Times of Dalits: My Engagement with Dalit Studies/Badri Narayan.
4. The Predicament of a Madiga Ethnographer: Doing Fieldwork in a Multi-Caste Village in Andhra Pradesh/Rahul Choragudi.
5. Travails of Doing Research in India: A Korean s Experience/Hyun Jung Kim.
6. Knowing Journalism and News Work: An Expatriate s Experience in an Arab Gulf Country/Jesna Jayachandran.
Index

Contributed articles presented at the Seminar on "Knowing the Social World: Challenges and Responses" held at Shimla between 13-15 March 2013.