Investigative Research: Theory and Practice

About Derek Layder

Derek Layder is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester and Honorary Professor of Health and Life Sciences and De Montfort University. He was awarded a doctorate by the London School of Economics in 1976. Appointed Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester in 1974 and promoted to Reader in 1995 he became Professor in 1997 and Emeritus Professor from 2002. He has held several visiting academic positions and has also held honorary visiting appointments at The Australian National University (as a Humanities Research Fellow) and the University of Western Sydney (as Eminent Research Visitor). He taught in areas of social theory social psychology social research methods and the philosophy of social sciences. He has published numerous academic articles and 12 books. Among his books in the area of the philosophy of social science he is the author of The Realist Image in Social Science (1990); in social theory he has written Understanding Social Theory (second edition 2006) as well as Modern Social Theory (1997). On research strategies and methods he has authored New Strategies in Social Research (1993) Sociological Practice (1998) and Doing Excellent Small-Scale Research (2013). He has also written on intimacy emotion and self-identity including Emotion in Social Life (2004) Social & Personal Identity (2004) and Intimacy & Power (2009).