‘If social science is the answer, what is the question?’ (Garfinkel)
This teasing quotation comes from an illuminating book by Alan Garfinkel entitled Forms of Explanation. His question about a question hints at many of the puzzling issues with which I have been preoccupied throughout my intellectual career.
Martyn Hammersley 
Hi Martyn, thanks for consolidating your material on this blog. I’ve just finished reading “What is Qualitative Research?” and it’s helped with giving me the big picture on research traditions and paradigms. I’m now deciding whether and how to combine interpretivist (ethnographic interviews, participant observations) and constructionist approaches (conversational analysis).
I appreciate your clarity and approach in writing. I look forward to your future publications!