The Social Scientific Turn in Modern British History

Abstract

Abstract In recent decades, scholars of modern British history have increasingly revisited the classic social science of the post-war period. Within this ‘social scientific turn’ in modern British history we can discern closely-related but distinct strands of work. One group of historians, influenced by intellectual history and political history methods, have examined how post-war social science and social scientists have shaped modern British politics and culture. Other historians have engaged closely with the original research materials of post-war social science as source bases for understanding lived experience, and explored the gulf between how sociologists and researchers talked about people, and how they understood themselves. Understanding the different aims and methods with which modern British historians have engaged with post-war social research is essential to understanding the methodology and value of the ‘social scientific turn’ in modern British history today.