Social Research Methods

Qasim gained unique first-hand insight into the multifaceted lives of a group of young British male Muslims who offend after spending 4 years studying them. He unwraps their lives, explores their identities and explains what role religion and Pakistani culture play in their criminal behaviour.

Building substantially on the earlier, landmark text, What Works? (Policy Press, 2000), this book brings together key thinkers and researchers to provide a clearly-structured review of the aspirations and contemporary realities of evidence-informed policy and practice.

In the first dedicated analysis of its kind, international experts review the rationale and results of arts-based approaches to research, teaching, and practice in social work. The book presents examples of their use and methods to evaluate and theorise results and shows how arts can form outputs from research too.

Drawing on interviews with journalists and police officers, this is the first ethnographic study of crime news reporting in the UK for over 25 years. It shows the impediments to crime reporting that exist in the aftermath of the Leveson Report and considers the future of investigative journalism non-profits.

This book shows how reflexive debate enhances childhood research. Expert contributors explore researchers’ identities, roles, boundaries and ethical governance, and use empirical international examples from a range of child-related issues to challenge conventions and raise standards.

Written in an accessible, practical and jargon-free style, this useful book informs and inspires researchers by showing readers why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research.

This book provides practical guidance for professionals and pre-qualifying students on how to gather and generate evidence of the impact of projects in the community. It includes case studies from a range of community settings and is full of easy to implement ideas, tools and examples of methods to demonstrate the impact of work in the community.

This book synthesises the challenges of researching everyday life for families on low incomes during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve future policy and practice.

Addressing previously neglected groups of care leavers such as unaccompanied migrants, street youth, young parents and those with a disability, this book considers the precarity often experienced by many care leavers. It makes research relevant to practitioners and policy-makers aiming to enable, rather than label, vulnerable groups.

Drawing on the voices and experiences of refugees, activists and professional practitioners, this collection illustrates the complexities of migration with real world case studies, and the possibilities of innovative therapeutic interventions.

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Examining the data processes at the European Spallation Source facility in Sweden, this book sheds light on the often underestimated, yet essential, contributions of those involved in the design and development of data management systems.

Drawing on interviews with welfare-reliant single mothers living in the South Wales Valleys, this original book charts their interactions with the labour market and welfare state. It challenges current understandings of welfare eligibility and dependency and provides valuable new policy insights for welfare reform.