First edition published in Great Britain in 2012, Second edition published in 2017 by
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Policy Press 2017
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To my parents, Julie and Mark Miller, who taught me to read, write and think, gave me a love of learning, and encouraged me even when my choices were different from their own.
Contents
Dr Helen Kara has been an independent social researcher and writer since 1999. Her background is in social care and the third sector, and she works with universities, non-profit organisations, and social care and health partnerships. While working full time, she obtained both her MSc in Social Research Methods and her PhD. She is a Director of We Research It Ltd and a member of the UK and Ireland Social Research Association (SRA), currently serving on their Board as the SRAs lead for research ethics. Helen is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a Visiting Fellow at both the National Centre for Research Methods and the Graduate School of Staffordshire University. She teaches research methods to students and practitioners, and loves to demystify the processes of writing and research.
There may be only one name on the spine, but it takes more than a single person to make a book. In fact, it takes more than just people. For example, this book would never have been written without Montezumas organic chilli chocolate to keep my brain on fire, and the Co-ops Fairtrade wines to damp it down when necessary.
My family have to be supportive, because its in the job descriptions for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother-in-Law and Nephew: thats Julie Miller, Mark Miller, Ros Hodge, Carl Hodge, and Jamie Round, respectively. Talking of families, my out-laws the Holmeses, Mengells and Parrish-Joneses arent a bad bunch either.
A number of people have helped this book along in ways that surpass the bounds of comradeship. These are: Debi Alper, Jenny Beattie, Pam Carter, Zo Clarke, Su Connan, Anne Cummins, Mike Cummins, Nick Dixon, Ros Edwards, Leigh Forbes, Anjali Gupta, Radhika Holmstrm, Helen Hunt, Denyse Kirkby, Rob Macmillan, Jenny Maltby, Rachel McAllister, Jenny Parfitt-Bowman, Lucy Pickering, Janet Salmons, Wayne Thexton and Katy Vigurs.
Writing can be a solitary process, but my friends on Twitter alleviated my solitude, usually by taking the mick. The enchanting illustrations are by Carol Burns; I would encourage you to see more of her excellent artwork at http://artisbycarolburns.blogspot.co.uk/. Martin Holmes of the University of Victoria, Canada, gave me great advice on referencing when we met in Paris. The technical aspects of this book would have been woeful without the help of Nik Holmes from Creative Technology, to whom I owe particular thanks for the first draft of Appendix 3. John Kaye from Jisc gave invaluable input on two sections in Chapters Seven and Nine. Jenny Parfitt-Bowman of Staffordshire University, UK, kindly reviewed the section on quantitative data analysis and helped to clarify several points.
At Policy Press, Victoria Pittman, Catherine Gray, and Dave Worth were kind, supportive, and on the ball. Hawk-eyed and knowledgeable copy editor, Judith Oppenheimer, saved me from many blunders in the first edition. I owe a big debt of gratitude to five anonymous referees of the proposal for the first edition of this book, and seven anonymous referees for the second edition; without your helpful and constructive suggestions, this would have been a much feebler tome. Cole Davis and Woody Caan also gave some helpful feedback on the first edition. I owe another big debt of gratitude to the 20 anonymous people who gave their time and expertise in interviews for the first edition; your input strengthened my work enormously. Thanks, also, to a couple of Research Companions who provided tips for Chapter Seven in the second edition.
The biggest thanks of all, for his constant love and support, go to my beloved Nik.
All the mistakes are, of course, mine. So are most of the good parts.
For many of us in the university sector, the term researcher conjures up an image of a highly trained academic, working full time on a well-defined and well-resourced project. Our archetypal researcher is also probably working in a team of similar individuals, has regular meetings with project leaders, and acquires additional skills through bespoke training, as and when they are required.
In reality of course, this type of researcher is something of a rare and rarefied breed. The majority of social-science research and evaluation in the United Kingdom, as in other parts of the world, is undoubtedly undertaken by very different kinds of researchers. These are people for whom research is probably but one component and often a small one at that of their work responsibilities. Often they are based in public and third-sector organisations with little or no research culture.
It is also unfortunately likely that they will have few resources at their disposal, and perhaps little in the way of formal training in research methods and project management. On top of this, some will be pursuing formal qualifications alongside their working responsibilities. No wonder many people in these kinds of environments find research and evaluation somewhat daunting.
It is for this key group of social scientists that Research and evaluation for busy students and practitioners by Helen Kara is ideally suited. It provides excellent overviews of the different perspectives, frameworks, and theoretical orientations of research practice, as well as a compendium of key methodologies and techniques, covering quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as their integration.
