The relationship between theory and practice, research and action, is fundamental to all fields of applied social science. Should research findings and knowledge be useful for science, practice, and policy? If so, how should such research be designed, carried out and disseminated to achieve the twin goals of rigor and relevance? These challenges are particularly relevant in the applied areas of management and organization studies where there is a distinct responsibility for researchers to engage with the 'real world'. In this carefully crafted and thoughtful book, leading management researcher Andrew Van de Ven both presents the broad intellectual challenge of 'engaged scholarship', and also sets out a clear framework and guidelines for carrying out soundly based and useful research for advancing both science and practice. At a time when some may question the value and status of academic knowledge; and others, contrastingly, urge a closer relationship between researchers and research users - be they businesses, governments or other institutions - the challenge of engaged scholarship is as relevant as ever, and there is a real need for the thoughtful and considered approach offered by Van de Ven. The book both provides a manifesto for engaged scholarship in the social sciences, and clear framework for research design and methodology. It will be an invaluable reference point and guide for academics, researchers and graduate students across the social sciences concerned with rigorous and relevant research in the contemporary world.

In this innovative approach to the practice of social science, Charles Ragin explores the use of fuzzy sets to bridge the divide between quantitative and qualitative methods. Paradoxically, the fuzzy set is a powerful tool because it replaces an unwieldy, "fuzzy" instrument (the variable, which establishes only the positions of cases relative to each other) with a precise one (degree of membership in a well-defined set). Ragin argues that fuzzy sets allow a far richer dialogue between ideas and evidence in social research than previously possible. They let quantitative researchers abandon "homogenizing assumptions" about cases and causes, they extend diversity-oriented research strategies, and they provide a powerful connection between theory and data analysis. Most important, fuzzy sets can be carefully tailored to fit evolving theoretical concepts, sharpening quantitative tools with in-depth knowledge gained through qualitative, case-oriented inquiry. This book should revolutionize research methods not only in sociology, political science and anthropology but in any field of inquiry dealing with complex patterns of causation.