About the Book

It is vital for students, policy makers and practitioners engaged in social policy, social work and other related academic disciplines and fields of practice to understand the importance of research and how to interpret research evidence and findings.They also need to know how to effectively carry out and report good quality research of their own.

This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition of the acclaimed international best-seller will enable readers to meet all these challenges. Comprehensive in scope, and written expertly by 80 leading contributors in an accessible and engaging style, this landmark book from The Policy Press' Understanding Welfare series includes dozens of new sections which highlight developments since the first edition. It also combines theoretical and applied discussions and case examples to provide the essential one-stop guide to research methods, approaches and debates.

The book is essential reading for students and teachers of social policy, social work, public policy, criminology, nursing and health sciences, education and other applied social sciences; policy makers and practitioners who would like to improve their use of research evidence; and those who want to conduct high quality research of their own.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Research for social policy and social work; Ethical conduct and research practice; Formulating research ideas and questions; Methodological issues and approaches; Quantitative research; Qualitative research; Dissemination, knowledge transfer and making an impact; Glossary; List of contributors: Pete Alcock - University of Birmingham, Charles Antaki - Loughborough University, Karl Ashworth - Office for National Statistics, Mary Baginsky - Children's Workforce Development Council, Matt Barnard - Head of Evaluation NSPCC, Sarah Banks - Durham University, Fiona Becker - NSPCC, Saul Becker - University of Nottingham, Peter Beresford - Brunel University, Nigel Bilsbrough - Loughborough University, Annette Boaz - Kings College London, Joanna Bornat - The Open University, Jonathan Bradshaw - University of York, John D. Brewer - University of Aberdeen, Alan Bryman - Leicester University, Emma Carmel - University of Bath, Patrick Carmichael - Liverpool John Moores University, Anne Corden - University of York, Louise Corti - University of Essex, Gary Craig - University of Durham, Duncan Cramer - Loughborough University, Christopher Day - University of Nottingham, David Deacon - Loughborough University, David de Vaus - University of Queensland Australia, Mary Dixon-Woods - University of Leicester, Harry Ferguson - University of Nottingham, Ben Fincham - University of Sussex, Jerry Floersch - Rutgers University School of Social Work New Jersey USA, Lynn Froggett - University of Central Lancashire, Rachel Fyson - University of Nottingham, Graham R. Gibbs - University of Huddersfield, David Gordon - University of Bristol, Hilary Graham - University of York, Martyn Hammersley - The Open University, Mark Hardy - University of York, Alexa Hepburn - Loughborough University, Michael Hirst - University of York, Lesley Hoggart - University of Greenwich, Lisa Holmes - Loughborough University, Sally Holland - Cardiff University, Annie Irvine - University of York, Stephen Joseph - University of Nottingham, Savita Katbamna - University of Leicester, Ravi KS Kohli - University of Bedfordshire, Jane Lewis - London School of Economics & Political Science, Pranee Liamputtong - La Trobe University Australia, Jeffrey Longhofer - Rutgers University of School of Social Work New Jersey USA, Clare Madge - University of Leicester, Reima Ana Maglajlic - Swansea University, Nicholas Mays - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Stephen McKay - University of Birmingham, Bren Neale - University of Leeds, Carolyn Noble - Victoria University Melbourne Australia, Henrietta O'Connor - University of Leicester, Stewart Page - University of Windsor Canada, Jan Pahl - University of Kent, Alison Park - National Centre for Social Research, Elizabeth Peel - Aston University, Cassandra Phoenix - University of Exeter, Robert Pinker - London School of Economics and Political Science, Jennie Popay - Lancaster University, Catherine Pope - University of Southampton, Jonathan Potter - Loughborough University, Stephen Potter - The Open University, Colin Robson - University of Huddersfield, Karen Rowlingson - University of Birmingham, Roy Sainsbury - University of York, Jonathan Scourfield - Cardiff University, Clive Seale - Queen Mary University of London, Joe Sempik - University of Nottingham, Elaine Sharland - University of Sussex, Ian F Shaw - University of York, Janet Smithson - University of Exeter, William Solesbury - ESRC UK Centre for Evidence Based Policy, Bruce Stafford - University of Nottingham, Patricia Thomson - University of Nottingham, Peter Townsend - formerly University of Bristol, Harriet Ward - Loughborough University, Samantha Warren - University of Essex, David Westlake - Loughborough University, Sue White - University of Birmingham, Sharon Witherspoon - The Nuffield Foundation, Ruth Wodak - Lancaster University