SOCIAL SKILLS, SOCIAL-RESEARCH SKILLS, SOCIOLOGICAL SKILLS - TEACHINGREFLEXIVITY

Training in social research methods is a central part of undergraduate and postgraduate education in sociology, social and cultural anthropo logy, and social psychology. Yet, the model of research skills which i nforms this teaching is impoverished in important respects. Although s ocial and communication skills are managerially and epistemologically important to successful research, they are absent from most research m ethods courses. In this paper I argue for the inclusion of these skill s in methods training, and discuss some of the implications of doing s o. I also touch upon the more general relevance of such skills to teac hing sociology. The teaching of social and communications skills is su ggested as one avenue that deserves further exploration in the pursuit of greater sociological reflexivity.