Social Research Methods

Supported by the editors’ popular podcast Narrative Now, this interdisciplinary volume explores the capacities and limitations of narrative research. It maps out new directions for the field while honouring its legacy.

Using original empirical data, this book explores how local government officers and politicians negotiate 'difficult subjects' linked with community cohesion policy: diversity, inequality, discrimination, extremism, migration, religion, class, power and change. Winner of the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2014

Based on an autoethnographic study about a free food store in Aotearoa New Zealand, this book examines how alternative economies and relations emerge from community solutions, and how these could be used to think, act and organize differently against capitalist dynamics.

This book explores how to establish peace in societies recovering from large-scale, armed conflicts by introducing a sustaining ‘peace scale’ as a continuous measure for peacebuilding success.

Over the past decades ‘photovoice’ has emerged as a participatory and creative research method where participants capture and discuss their reality through photographs. This unprecedented ‘how-to’ book takes novice and experienced researchers through the practicalities and ethics of applying this approach.

An examination of the early work of the innovative Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Ethics and Law Committee. It will help anyone involved in other cohort studies to understand how ethical policies evolve.

Presenting the landmark Pioneers life stories project, this one-of-a-kind book documents how modern social research in the UK was shaped. It combines a fascinating history of the generations who built outstanding and influential social research with a valuable resource for future research and teaching on methods.

The deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd at the hands of white police officers uncovered an apparent legitimacy crisis at the heart of American policing. Drawing on interviews with officers, offenders, practitioners and community members, this book explores policing changes in the ‘post-Ferguson’ era and informs future policing practice.

Addressing the contemporary urban eco-justice movement, this book draws on the case studies of two protest groups in Trento, Italy. Analysing the practices and policing of environmental activism during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, this book identifies directions for future critical and green criminological research in the area.

Offering a fresh look to complement the dominant singular voice of developmental psychology, this unique collection of 12 research projects carried out in the UK and USA is essential reading for anyone studying or working with children at play.

Avoiding both over-simplification and jargon-riddled complexity, this book is an invaluable, straightforward guide to participatory research for you and your fellow practitioners working with community groups and organisations.

This original study of the lives of prisoners’ families adds a feminist perspective on the understanding of carceral geography. She relates the testimonies of families as they navigate new challenges, and measures the impact of imprisonment on their emotions, relationships, identities and experiences of spaces, both inside and outside prison.