This open access book details tools and procedures for data collections of hard-to-reach, hard-to-survey populations. Inside, readers will discover first-hand insights from experts who share their successes as well as their failures in their attempts to identify and measure human vulnerabilities across the life course. Coverage first provides an introduction on studying vulnerabilities based on the Total Error Survey framework. Next, the authors present concrete examples on how to survey such populations as the elderly, migrants, widows and widowers, couples facing breast cancer, employees and job seekers, displaced workers, and teenagers during their transition to adulthood. In addition, one essay discusses the rationale for the use of life history calendars in studying social and psychological vulnerability while another records the difficulty the authors faced when trying to set-up an online social network to collect relevant data. Overall, this book demonstrates the importance to have, from the very beginning, a dialogue between specialists of survey methods and the researchers working on social dynamics across the life span. It will serve as an indispensable resource for social scientists interested in gathering and analyzing data on vulnerable individuals and populations in order to construct longitudinal data bases and properly target social policies.

This open access book details tools and procedures for data collections of hard-to-reach, hard-to-survey populations. Inside, readers will discover first-hand insights from experts who share their successes as well as their failures in their attempts to identify and measure human vulnerabilities across the life course. Coverage first provides an introduction on studying vulnerabilities based on the Total Error Survey framework. Next, the authors present concrete examples on how to survey such populations as the elderly, migrants, widows and widowers, couples facing breast cancer, employees and job seekers, displaced workers, and teenagers during their transition to adulthood. In addition, one essay discusses the rationale for the use of life history calendars in studying social and psychological vulnerability while another records the difficulty the authors faced when trying to set-up an online social network to collect relevant data. Overall, this book demonstrates the importance to have, from the very beginning, a dialogue between specialists of survey methods and the researchers working on social dynamics across the life span. It will serve as an indispensable resource for social scientists interested in gathering and analyzing data on vulnerable individuals and populations in order to construct longitudinal data bases and properly target social policies.

Transdisciplinary research (TR) is an emerging field of research in the knowledge society. It relates science and policy in addressing issues such as: global and local environmental concerns migration new technologies public health socio-cultural change This handbook provides, for the first time, a structured overview of the manifold experiences gained in these fields. Twenty-one projects from all over the world present their research approaches, structured along the three phases of a TR project: problem structuring problem investigation bringing results to fruition Referring to these projects, cross-cutting challenges of TR are discussed, such as: integration participation values and uncertainties learning from case studies management education A systematic positioning of transdisciplinary research in the development of sciences and humanities, and 15 propositions for enhancing transdisciplinary research situate the contributions in a larger, systematised context. The handbook gives researchers and students an overview of the state of the art in transdisciplinary research. Audience Written for students, researchers, and project managers who are planning or are involved in problem-driven, transdisciplinary projects, or are working on the interface of science, society and politics.

Transdisciplinary research (TR) is an emerging field of research in the knowledge society. It relates science and policy in addressing issues such as:

• global and local environmental concerns
• migration
• new technologies
• public health
• socio-cultural change

This handbook provides, for the first time, a structured overview of the manifold experiences gained in these fields. Twenty-one projects from all over the world present their research approaches, structured along the three phases of a TR project:

• problem structuring
• problem investigation
• bringing results to fruition

Referring to these projects, cross-cutting challenges of TR are discussed, such as:

• integration
• participation
• values and uncertainties
• learning from case studies
• management
• education

A systematic positioning of transdisciplinary research in the development of sciences and humanities, and 15 propositions for enhancing transdisciplinary research situate the contributions in a larger, systematised context. The handbook gives researchers and students an overview of the state of the art in transdisciplinary research.

Audience

Written for students, researchers, and project managers who are planning or are involved in problem-driven, transdisciplinary projects, or are working on the interface of science, society and politics.

Survey Methodology is becoming a more structured field of research, deserving of more and more academic attention. The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology explores both the increasingly scientific endeavour of surveys and their growing complexity, as different data collection modes and information sources are combined. The handbook takes a global approach, with a team of international experts looking at local and national specificities, as well as problems of cross-national, comparative survey research. The chapters are organized into seven major sections, each of which represents a stage in the survey life-cycle: Surveys and Societies Planning a Survey Measurement Sampling Data Collection Preparing Data for Use Assessing and Improving Data Quality The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology is a landmark and essential tool for any scholar within the social sciences.