A clear and structured analysis of the philosophy of social science across each of its main disciplines: anthropology, sociology, history, economics and geography. Presenting a range of examples from specific social sciences, the text both identifies the practical and theoretical procedures involved in the identification of the object and, at the same time, raises questions about the very objectivity of these procedures in analysing the object. The volume should prove useful to students across the social sciences as a guide to the theories and methodologies which underpin their disciplines.