Social Research Methods

This important book offers practical advice for using evidence and research in policymaking. Covering important policy areas including the GM debate, the environment and Black Lives Matter, each chapter in the book assesses the ethical challenges, the status of evidence in explaining or describing the issue and possible solutions to the problem.

Mapping environmental sustainability explains the development of visual mapping techniques with practical case studies that describe their application in environmental sustainability projects, from working with farmers and their networks to using visual mapping with indigenous communities and managing coastal environments.

This sociological collection advances the argument that the concept of a "turning point" expands our understanding of life experiences from a descriptive to a deeper and more abstract level of analysis.

This text brings together academics, artists, practitioners and ‘community activists’ to explore the possibilities for and tensions of social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-oriented ‘impact’ in the academy.

The Greek island of Lesvos is frequently the subject of news reports on the refugee ‘crisis’. Drawing on her experiences as an activist in Lesvos refugee camps, Iliadou considers the impacts of EU deterrence policies and highlights the global responsibility for safeguarding refugees’ human rights.

This is the first book to take a radical approach to socially just, community centred research. Challenging traditional models for conducting social science research within marginalized populations, it examines the relationships between research, knowledge construction, and political power/legitimacy in society.

Drawing on empirical research with the UK’s two largest Food Banks, this book explores the prolific rise of food charity over the last 15 years and its implications for overcoming food insecurity.

This concise and accessible guide to designing a dissertation, thesis or other major study helps researchers achieve the best possible outcomes. It sets out approaches that are not limited by conventions, but instead give the researcher the confidence to handle questions, literature reviews, data collection, analysis and other processes.

Tailored to meet the demands of blended learning, this versatile and accessible textbook is ideal for research students embarking on their research journey, complete with a variety of pedagogical and digital tools to aid learning.

This edited collection explores and illustrates the nature of research for social justice. Drawing on a diverse range of social research projects, it sets out what a rights-based approach to research looks like, why this framework matters and how we can translate them into operational research.

Including contributions on qualitative and digital research from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas, this volume explores the creative and thoughtful ways in which researchers have adapted methods and rethought relationships in response to challenges arising from crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters or violent conflict.

Presenting the complexities of doing planning work, with its moral and practical dilemmas, this rich ethnographic study analyses today’s planning scene through the stories of four diverse working environments.