A ll researchers who attempt to formulate conclusions from a particular path of inquiry use aspects of the scientific method, which can vary from field to field and method to method. The sound application of the scientific method allows researchers to reveal valid empirical findings. Within the social sciences, the general steps include the following: (a) state the problem, (b) formulate the hy...

Top-down causation has been implicit in many sociological accounts of social structure and its influence on social events, but the social sciences have struggled to provide a coherent account of top-down causation itself. This paper summarizes a critical realist view of causation and emergence, shows how it supports a plausible account of top-down causation and then applies this account to the ...

With the rapid global proliferation of social media, there has been growing interest in using this existing source of easily accessible 'big data' to develop social science knowledge. However, amidst the big data gold rush, it is important that long-established principles of good social research are not ignored. This article critically evaluates Mitchell et al.'s (2013) study, 'The Geography of...