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What sort of social science should we look for in the wake of the large-scale transformations in theoretical thinking which have happened over the past two decades? How should we deal with the practical implications of the fall of empiricism and the apparent impossibility of discovering foundations for social scientific knowledge? This book offers a new analysis of some basic issues in sociology and social theory. The emphasis of Bryant's work is upon the connections of theory and practice. It reconstructs the role which social science can play in influencing politics and public decision-making. The social sciences can, and should, play a major practical role in modern social life. In showing how this can still be so, the author gives many specific illustrations and comments extensively on the fortunes of different versions of sociological practice on both sides of the Atlantic. This book should be of interest to students, teachers and researchers with special interests in social theory, sociology and political science.