Empowerment of Muslim Youth in India

Description

The bias in the epistemological and philosophical issues involved in social science research has attracted the attention of social scientists only recently. There is a growing literature on these issues. These problems are confronted by every researcher in social sciences. The problem is more acute for the writers, thinkers and researchers from the so called Third World because social research methodology and scientific paradigms used by them are dominated by the concepts, analytical tools, instruments, philosophies and theoretical systems developed in the West, There is nothing against them for having been developed in the West. But most of these concepts, theories and analytical tools contain the biases rooted in the Western culture. Usually, these biases are hidden behind beautiful words, high-sounding terminologies, attractive philosophical systems and academic jargon. The papers collected in the present volume plead that researchers need to be more careful in using these paradigms than they apparently have been. There is a strong urge to develop an alternative paradigm of social-science research in some third word quarters. However, this book does not plead for the evolution of an alternative paradigm, which in any case is not going to happen suddenly and overnight. Instead, the papers included here plead for a more careful and pains talking use of prevailing paradigms. Researchers must at least be aware of the biases that creep into their research through the use of current methodologies. They also owe it to their readers that these biases are explained.