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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies > Research methods
In recent years ever-increasing concerns about ethical dimensions of fieldwork practice have forced anthropologists and other social scientists to radically reconsider the nature, process, and outcomes of fieldwork: what should we be doing, how, for whom, and to what end? In this volume, practitioners from across anthropological disciplines-social and biological anthropology and primatology-come together to question and compare the ethical regulation of fieldwork, what is common to their practices, and what is distinctive to each discipline. Contributors probe a rich variety of contemporary questions: the new, unique problems raised by conducting fieldwork online and via email; the potential dangers of primatological fieldwork for locals, primates, the environment, and the fieldworkers themselves; the problems of studying the military; and the role of ethical clearance for anthropologists involved in international health programs. The distinctive aim of this book is to develop of a transdisciplinary anthropology at the methodological, not theoretical, level.
Presenting a ground-breaking study of the emerging phenomenon of location-independence, this book examines the way in which the practices of 'global nomads', who live on the road, without fixed abode, place of employment or localised circle of friends, question many of the unwritten norms and ideals that characterise settled life in societies. With the lifestyles of global nomads blurring the boundaries between travel, migration, and dwelling, Global Nomads and Extreme Mobilities draws on in-depth interviews with a worldwide group of location-independent travellers, together with virtual and instant ethnography and discourse analysis, to show how lives oriented around extreme forms of mobility offer researchers in migration, tourism and mobilities a unique opportunity for examining the complex subjectivities and power relations associated with multi-mobility. With close attention to the nationalistic, political, and travel-related attachments of global nomads and the ways in which their own representation and justification of their lifestyles and subjectivities constitute a power negotiation, the book examines 'global nomads' social and intimate relationships and the forms of exclusion and discrimination that they encounter, raising the question of whether they live inside or outside societies - and indeed, whether there can be any life outside societies. A re-assessment of much contemporary research in the fields of mobility, migration and tourism studies, Global Nomads and Extreme Mobilities will appeal to scholars across the social sciences.
Summarizing a half century of work on the problem of identifying units of analysis for complex human behaviour, this book introduces modes of practice as a unit of analysis for the science and design of human activities, and shows how to record them and create field guides at scales from individual to society. Revealing scientific analysis of human practices has been hampered by the lack of a unit of analysis, Dirlam describes how the difficulties of defining a unit are overcome by combining insights from mathematics and human development. Part II presents methods for developmental surveys and interviews that enable social scientists, designers, and education or training assessment professionals to gather data on modes of practice. Part III provides practical descriptions of how to organize interviews into developmental surveys that can be used by a community. Part IV inspires future advances in research and design. Concrete examples from science, design, and learning assessment are used throughout, and the appendix includes the results of 300 developmental interviews, organized into exploratory descriptions of modes of practice and commitment.
Video Ethnography provides a thought-provoking, guided framework to ethnographic filmmaking. It examines how this kind of filmmaking can be a means of approximating, mediating and evoking lived experience. Functioning as a kind of sensory extension of the videographer, video ethnography arises directly out of lived experience as a process of dynamic encounters, mobile situations, and embodied approaches that include senses and choices of the videographer, and the participants of the ethnography. The book will help describe and develop students' sensibility and awareness of this crucial aspect of video ethnography, so they can craft their own video ethnographies with a fully conscious awareness of how certain skilled and attuned approaches to audiovisual techniques can help facilitate the fullest and most dynamic encounters possible. This book is suitable for classes in ethnographic filmmaking, video ethnography and visual anthropology / sociology.
Corruption, crime, economic inequality, religious fundamentalism, financial crises, environmental degradation, population ageing, gender inequality, large-scale migration... This book tackles many of the most pressing problems facing societies today. The authors demonstrate that similar social mechanisms lie behind many of these seemingly disparate problems. Indeed, many societal problems can be traced back to behaviours that are perfectly rational and often well-intended from an individual perspective. Yet, taken together these behaviours can - paradoxically - give rise to unintended and undesirable outcomes at the society level. In addition to addressing the causes of societal problems, the book explains why some problems rank higher on the public agenda than others. Moreover, it is shown how government intervention may sometimes provide a cure, yet other times exacerbate existing problems or create new problems of its own. This book includes an extensive amount of data on trends and geographic variation in the prevalence of different problems, as well as telling examples - both recent and historical - from a variety of countries to support its key arguments. Employing a bold multidisciplinary approach, the authors draw on insights from across the social sciences, including sociology, economics, anthropology, criminology, and psychology. Throughout the book, students are introduced to analytical concepts such as free-riding, herding behaviour, principal-agent relations and moral hazard. These concepts are essential tools for better understanding the roots of many societal problems that regularly make headlines in the news. This improved understanding will, in turn, be critical for ultimately finding solutions to these problems.
Video Ethnography provides a thought-provoking, guided framework to ethnographic filmmaking. It examines how this kind of filmmaking can be a means of approximating, mediating and evoking lived experience. Functioning as a kind of sensory extension of the videographer, video ethnography arises directly out of lived experience as a process of dynamic encounters, mobile situations, and embodied approaches that include senses and choices of the videographer, and the participants of the ethnography. The book will help describe and develop students' sensibility and awareness of this crucial aspect of video ethnography, so they can craft their own video ethnographies with a fully conscious awareness of how certain skilled and attuned approaches to audiovisual techniques can help facilitate the fullest and most dynamic encounters possible. This book is suitable for classes in ethnographic filmmaking, video ethnography and visual anthropology / sociology.
Originally published in 1972. This book covers from 'linear' statistical methods, regression and variance analysis to multivariate methods to wider spatial analytic techniques, in which a clear association is maintained between quantitative data and the spatial coordinates which locate them. The purpose of this volume is to highlight this coherent area of scholarship under the general headings of spatial point systems, networks, continuous distributions, partitioning and simulation. Seventeen authors from Britain and the United States have been brought together to produce a book whose attention is on the body of spatial techniques necessary to enable the building of dynamic spatial models of landforms which formed the keystone of much geomorphic work in future years.
A Visual Approach to the Study of Religious Orders applies visual methods to the exploration of various facets of religious life, such as everyday lived experience, contemporary monastic identity or monastic architecture. Presenting a series of visual essays, it treats images not as simple illustrations but as an autonomous form of expression, capable of unveiling vital and developmental layers of experience, while inviting readers to examine and interpret the data themselves. The first book of its kind, it brings together case studies from various locations across Europe to demonstrate what the use of visual methodologies can contribute to social scientific research on religious orders. As such, it will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, religious studies and theology and anyone with interests in religious orders.
Now in its fourth edition, this leading introduction to ethnography has been thoroughly updated and substantially rewritten. The volume offers a systematic introduction to ethnographic principles and practice, and includes a new chapter on 'Ethnography in the digital world'. The authors argue that ethnography is best understood as a reflexive process. This requires recognition that social research is part of the world that it studies, and demands that researchers reflect on how they shape both data and analysis. Starting in Chapter 1 with an outline of the principle of reflexivity, against the background of competing research philosophies, the authors go on to discuss the main features of ethnographic work, including: the selection and sampling of cases the problem of access field relations and observation interviewing the use of documents recording and organizing data the process of data analysis and writing research reports. There is also consideration of the ethical issues involved in ethnographic research. Throughout, the discussion draws on a wide range of illustrative material from classic and more recent studies, within a global context. The new edition of this popular textbook will be an indispensable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for all researchers using ethnographic methods in the social sciences and the humanities.
Aimed at assisting doctoral candidates and early-career researchers and their supervisors globally, this book is the first of its type to address the challenges faced by students when proposing new programs of research in the disciplines of gender, race, identity, indigeneity, and diversity within management and business. The problems researchers face derive from a lack of familiarity with the needed alignment of the methodology, conceptual framework, and the nature of epistemologies used in creating a coherent proposal. This results in project delays and unnecessary time in review as doctoral students and committees attempt to provide the required alignment. Essential reading for students and faculty engaged in these fields of study, the book provides a practical guide on how to navigate through these challenges and to arrive at a workable proposal that meets the requirements of the academy. To assist doctoral students in conducting their research, the book provides narratives that illustrate the complexities of researching gender, race, identity, indigeneity, and diversity in broad terms. It explains the importance of such research in creating positive social change and helping students identify the appropriate conceptual framework, align the problem statement with a purpose, construct the research question and the nature of the study, and identify the correct method to conduct the research. An essential guide for students and doctoral researchers, this book explains the dominant and marginalized epistemological orientations to acquaint doctoral researchers with the effects of their selections on the outcomes of their research. It provides guidance as to the appropriateness of quantitative or qualitative methods based on the selected epistemology and the problem statement.
The Qualitative Dissertation in Education focuses on the experiences of students pursuing a doctorate in education and writing a qualitative dissertation. The literature on qualitative research has grown substantially over the past 25 years, but methods books often fail to consider the unique situations and resources available to students pursuing a professional doctorate. This book examines the entirety of the dissertation experience, walking readers through the process with examples and guidelines. The structure of the book outlines each chapter of the dissertation as well as the necessary steps to start and complete the dissertation, such as working with a faculty chair and committee, developing a peer support group, and organizing literature. Not only does the book cover each stage of the dissertation process, it also provides practical guidance on topics such as productivity, with exercises and resources to help students overcome obstacles and make progress in their writing. The Qualitative Dissertation in Education provides a foundation to understand both the basics of qualitative research and the expectations of the EdD dissertation.
First published in 1981. Urban modelling techniques are an established tool in assessing the possible repercussions of major changes in land use. This book is an introductory guide to the various models that have been developed and to how they can be applied in planning practice, particularly with relation to land use activities such as residential, industrial and retail development, and changes in the transport network. The author has provided a coherent and reliable introductory text which will be welcomed by students and teachers in search of a guide to current methods in the field of urban modelling.
This title was first published in 2001. Increasingly, young women throughout Europe educate themselves for a life-long labour market career. So, where does birth fit into a young woman's curriculum vitae? This book takes a welfare state comparative perspective on this issue, analyzing relevant macro policies from four countries whose political views on the combination of work and family differ, namely Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. The effects of these macro policies on the micro economic labour market and fertility behaviour are also examined using household panel data from each country. For this purpose, all available information from the four countries has been organized into fertility and work histories on a month-to-month basis around the date of giving birth. Within the welfare state comparative framework, hypotheses on women's labour market transitions in connection with childbirth, women's share in joint family earnings around the birth of the first and the second child, the timing of having a first and subsequent child are derived from economic theory on human capital and labour supply.
This book maps out the state of China Studies in seven Southeast Asian countries from different perspectives. It looks at the history, current status, and characteristics of the study of China in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Myanmar, and what factors shaped the development and prospects of Sinology and Chinese Studies in these countries. For the first time, China experts from within and outside of this region, using a wide range of biographical, historical, bibliographical and comparative methodologies, tell the stories of how intellectuals and scholars in selected Southeast Asian countries understand, study, and research China. Their studies are providing different perspectives and discourses on China. Chapters discover and explore common factors such as the presence of sizeable ethnic Chinese communities, historical and current interactions between China and Southeast Asia, and the diverse intellectual influences in the region. A novel insight into the study of China in Southeast Asia, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of China-Southeast Asia relations, the intellectual history of Southeast Asia, the intellectual history of Chinese Studies in the world and the politics of Knowledge production.
In recent years, research in the social sciences and cultural studies has increasingly paid attention to the generative power of emotions and affects; that is, to the questions of how far they shape social and cultural processes while being simultaneously shaped by them. However, the literature on the methodological implications of researching affects and emotions remains rather limited. As a collective outcome of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) Affective Societies at Freie Universitat Berlin, Analyzing Affective Societies introduces procedures and methodologies applied by researchers of the CRC for investigating societies as affective societies. Presenting scholarly research practices by means of concrete examples and case studies, the book does not contain any conclusive methodological advice, but rather engages in illustrative descriptions of the authors' research practices. Analyzing Affective Societies unveils different research approaches, procedures and practices of a variety of disciplines from the humanities, arts and social sciences. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Qualitative Research Methods, Emotions, Affect, Cultural Studies and Social Sciences.
This book presents a novel and accessible way to learn about designing and conducting social research. Unlike traditional social research methods books, it provides a 'real world' account of social researchers' experiences and learning achieved through conducting research in a variety of fields. It contains an eclectic collection of research and advice for conducting research from social researchers with varying backgrounds. Suggestions are made in relation to gaining access to research sites, conducting research on sensitive topics such as suicide, child sexual abuse and homelessness, ensuring the inclusive participation of participants with intellectual disabilities and children. Also included are discussions of conducting practitioner research, conducting research on individual change, psychoanalytically informed research, documentary research and post qualitative research. Other chapters focus on criticality in research on topics that have become politicised and moralised, ensuring that research conducted is credible and how knowledge in research is constructed through both the theoretical framework used and how it is conducted. Bringing together a diverse collection of social research projects, Designing and Conducting Research in Social Science, Health and Social Care will be of interest to students, educators and researchers in the social sciences and professionals in related areas.
The case study has proved of enduring interest to all Western societies, particularly in relation to questions of subjectivity and the sexed self. This volume interrogates how case studies have been used by doctors, lawyers, psychoanalysts, and writers to communicate their findings both within the specialist circles of their academic disciplines, and beyond, to wider publics. At the same time, it questions how case studies have been taken up by a range of audiences to refute and dispute academic knowledge. As such, this book engages with case studies as sites of interdisciplinary negotiation, transnational exchange and influence, exploring the effects of forces such as war, migration, and internationalization. Case Studies and the Dissemination of Knowledge challenges the limits of disciplinary-based research in the humanities. The cases examined serve as a means of passage between disciplines, genres, and publics, from law to psychoanalysis, and from auto/biography to modernist fiction. Its chapters scrutinize the case study in order to sharpen understanding of the genre's dynamic role in the construction and dissemination of knowledge within and across disciplinary, temporal, and national boundaries. In doing so, they position the case at the center of cultural and social understandings of the emergence of modern subjectivities.
Evidence-Based Decision-Making: How to Leverage Available Data and Avoid Cognitive Biases examines how a wide range of factual evidence, primarily derived from a variety of data available to organizations, can be used to improve the quality of business decision-making, by helping decision makers circumvent the various cognitive biases that adversely impact how we all think. The book is built on the following premise: During the past decade, the new 'data world' emerged, in which the rush to develop competencies around business analytics and data science can be characterized as nothing less than the new commercial arms race. The ever-expanding volume and variety of data are well known, as are the great advances in data processing/analytics, data visualization, and related information production-focused capabilities. Yet, comparatively little effort has been devoted to how the informational products of business analytics and data science are 'consumed' or used in the organizational decision-making processes, as the available evidence shows that only some of that information is used to drive some business decisions some of the time. Evidence-Based Decision-Making details an explicit process describing how the universe of available and applicable evidence, which includes organizational and other data, industry benchmarks, scientific studies, and professional experience, can be assessed, amalgamated, and funneled into an objective driver of key business decisions. Introducing key concepts in relation to data and evidence, and the history of evidence-based management, this new and extremely topical book will be essential reading for researchers and students of data analytics as well as those working in the private and public sectors, and in the voluntary sector.
This book applies digital methods of analysis to the study of the impact of digital technologies on the social and political spheres of women in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. These countries have been early embracers of digital technologies in the Middle East, and are therefore useful cases to examine the region's use of digital media. Bernardi discusses what can be called the silent revolutions of these women online. By combining Software Studies, Feminist Qur'anic Revisionism, Actor Network Theory and digital methods research and analysis, the book explores how 'women's issues' in Egypt and Saudi Arabia arise, transform and manifest themselves in the digital sphere, both in English and in Arabic.
Drug use is widely understood in terms of its subjects, substances and settings. But what happens when these distinctions start to blur? Injecting Bodies in More-than-Human Worlds moves away from a hierarchical conceptualisation of drug use based on its subjects and their objects, offering unique and fresh insights into the complex world of injecting drugs. Focussing on the Deleuzian notion of bodies-in-process, Dennis proposes a new and timely approach to drugs where agency materialises in relation to others - human and not. Using rich, ethnographic data to demonstrate bodies' in/capacities to act through their relationality, Dennis carefully maps out where bodies are thought, practised, lived and intervened-with: caught in tension between pleasure and addiction, activity and passivity, 'becoming-other' and 'becoming-blocked', and making and breaking habits. Arguing for a deeper engagement both with how bodies are enacted and with our collective responsibility to bring them together in healthier ways, this volume offers a unique intervention into the sociology of drugs and, more widely, health and illness. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Science and Technology Studies, Sociology and Social Policy, Drugs and Addiction, and Health and Medical Anthropology.
This book offers insight into the use of empirical diffusionist models for analysis of cross-cultural and cross-national communication, translation and adaptation of the United Nation's (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The book looks at three social analytical instruments of particular utility for the cross-national study of the translation and diffusion of global sustainable development discourses in East Asia (China and Japan). It explains the underlying hypothesis that, in the transmission and adaptation of global SDGs in different national contexts, three large groups of social actors encompassing sources of information, mediating actors and socio-industrial end-users form, shape and contribute to the complex, latent networks of social engagement. It illuminates how the distribution within these networks largely determines the level and breadth of the diffusion of global SDGs and their associated environmentalist norms. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in sustainable growth and development, as well as global environmental politics.
Fully revised and updated, this second edition of Participatory Action Research (PAR) provides new theoretical insights and many robust tools that will guide researchers, professionals and students from all disciplines through the process of conducting action research 'with' people rather than 'for' them or 'about' them. PAR is collective reasoning and evidence-based learning focussed on social action. It has immediate relevance in fields ranging from community development to education, health, public engagement, environmental issues and problem solving in the workplace. This new edition has been extensively revised to create a user-friendly textbook on PAR theory and practice, including: updated references and a comprehensive overview of different approaches to PAR (pragmatic, psychosocial, critical); more emphasis on the art of process design, especially in complex social settings characterized by uncertainty and the unknown; developments in the use of Web2 collaborative tools and digital strategies to support real-time data gathering and processing; updated examples and stories from around the world, in a wide range of fields; critical commentaries on major issues in the social sciences, including stakeholder theory, systems thinking, causal analysis, monitoring and evaluation, research ethics, risk assessment and social innovation. This modular textbook provides novel perspectives and ideas in a longstanding tradition that strives to reconnect science and the inquiry process with life in society. It provides coherent and critical treatment of core issues in the ongoing evolution of PAR, making it suitable for a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It is intended for use by researchers, students and working professionals seeking to improve or rethink their approach to co-creating knowledge and supporting action for the well-being of all.
Recently, Black women have taken the world stage in national politics, popular culture, professional sports, and bringing attention to racial injustice in policing and the judicial system. However, rarely are Black women acknowledged and highlighted for their efforts to understand the social problems confronting our generation and those generations that came before us. In the post-civil rights era, research faculty and theoreticians must acknowledge the marginalization of Black women scholars' voices in contemporary qualitative scholarship and debates. Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry: A Mosaic for Writing our Daughter's Body engages qualitative inquiry to center the issues and concerns of Black women as researcher(s) and the researched while simultaneously questioning the ostensible innocence of qualitative inquiry, including methods of data collection, processes of data analysis, and representations of human experiences and identities. The text centers "daughtering" as the onto-epistemological tool for approaches to Black feminist and critical race data analysis in qualitative inquiry. Advanced and novice researchers interested in decolonizing methodologies and liberatory tools of analysis will find the text useful for cultural, education, political, and racial critiques that center the intersectional identities and interpretations of Black women and girls and other people of color. Daughtering as a tool of analysis in Black feminist qualitative inquiry is our own cultural and spiritual way of being, doing, and performing decolonizing work.
This ground breaking volume raises radical critiques and proposes innovative solutions for social sustainability in the built environment. Urban Social Sustainability provides an in-depth insight into the discourse and argues that every urban intervention has a social sustainability dimension that needs to be taken into consideration, and incorporated into a comprehensive and cohesive 'urban agenda' that is built on three principles of recognition, integration, and monitoring. This should be achieved through a dialogical and reflexive process of decision-making. To achieve sustainable communities, social sustainability should form the basis of a constructive dialogue and be interlinked with other areas of sustainable development. This book underlines the urgency of approaching social sustainability as an urban agenda and goes on to make suggestions about its formulation. Urban Social Sustainability consists of original contributions from academics and experts within the field and explores the significance of social sustainability from different perspectives. Areas covered include urban policy, transportation and mobility, urban space and architectural form, housing, urban heritage, neighbourhood development, and urban governance. Drawing on case studies from a number of countries and world regions the book presents a multifaceted and interdisciplinary understanding from social sustainability in urban settings, and provides practitioners and policy makers with innovative recommendations to achieve more socially sustainable urban environment.
Over the last few decades, researchers in fields such as history, the social sciences and medicine have had improved access to census materials in northern Europe, making an update on these infrastructures both possible and topical. This book's presentation of European census history and infrastructure is not strictly limited to northern Europe, although most of the Mosaic materials originated north of the forty-fifth parallel. The template for modern census-taking was created by Adolphe Quetelet in Belgium in the 1830s, and his census standards were spread almost globally by the international statistical conferences. This book explores Icelandic residence patterns amongst the elderly; Siberian polygamy as indicated in the Polar Census; men's living arrangements in Northern Norway; Sweden's pioneering register-based census in 1930; unique source materials on the Soviet family; and data on Ukrainian and Russian population groups in the most recent Ukrainian censuses. All of these contributions stress the book's focus on Northern European census data. This book was originally published as a special issue of The History of the Family. |
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