Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners
Rigorous research is crucial to effective work with young people, and increasingly youth practitioners need to be able to develop, review and evidence their work using a variety of research and assessment tools. This text equips students and practitioners with a thorough understanding of research design, practice and dissemination, as well as approaches to evidence-based practice.
A clear practice framework informs the book, outlining the significance of research to youth work, especially in relation to designing and developing services for young people. Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners :
analyses the practitioner-researcher role
explores the ethical context of research in youth work
offers a thorough analysis of key methodological questions in research in practice
provides a guide to data collection and analysis
presents five principal research strategies for youth work: ethnographic work and visual methods; interviewing and evaluation; surveys and evaluation; the use of secondary data and documentary analysis; and researching virtual and online settings
discusses the implications of research for work with young people as well as its dissemination.
Written by experienced researchers and practitioner-researchers, each chapter in this accessible textbook includes an overview, a critical discussion of the pros and cons of the particular method or approach, a case study, a practice-based task, a summary and suggestions for further reading. This textbook is invaluable for student and practising youth workers. It is also a useful reference for other practitioners working with young people.
Simon Bradford is Reader in Social Sciences in the School of Health Sciences and Social Care at Brunel University, UK.
Fin Cullen is Lecturer in Youth and Community Studies in the School of Health Sciences and Social Care at Brunel University, UK.
Research and Research Methods
for Youth Practitioners
Edited by Simon Bradford and Fin Cullen
First published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2012 selection and editorial material Simon Bradford and Fin Cullen; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Research and research methods for youth practitioners / edited by Simon
Bradford and Fin Cullen.
p. cm.
1. Social work with youth. 2. Youth workers. 3. Social sciencesResearch.
I. Bradford, Simon. II. Cullen, Fin.
HV1421.R458 2012
362.7dc222011014005
ISBN: 978-0-415-57085-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-57103-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-80257-1 (ebk)
This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr Michael Lewis Day, friend and teacher, 20 February 19403 March 2010.
Contents
| Simon Bradford and Fin Cullen |
| 1 |
| Fin Cullen, Simon Bradford and Laura Green |
| 2 |
| Stan Tucker |
| 3 |
| Chrissie Rogers and Geeta Ludhra |
| 4 |
| Alexandra Allan |
| 5 |
| Clare Choak |
| 6 |
| Marilyn Clark and Albert Bell |
| 7 |
| John Barker and Pam Alldred |
| 8 |
| Nic Crowe |
| 9 |
| Judith Bessant and Rys Farthing |
| 10 |
| Fin Cullen and Simon Bradford |
Contributors
Alexandra Allan is Lecturer in Education, Childhood and Youth Studies in the School of Education, Exeter University. Alexandras Ph.D. focused on young girls constructions of femininity. Her recent research has focused on young womens perceptions of risk. Both of these projects have utilised ethnographic and visual methods.
Pam Alldred lectures in the Centre for Youth Work Studies at Brunel University. She writes and teaches about the politics of research in the social sciences and education, and the dilemmas of representing children and young people. She has contributed to several feminist research methods books and to the SIMREF feminist research methodology international school.
John Barker is a geographer and Lecturer in the Social Work Division at Brunel University. Johns research and teaching specialises in different aspects of childrens and young peoples lives, including childcare, play, education, travel and access to services and activities, as well as methodological debates surrounding researching children, childhood and youth.
Albert Bell is Head of the Department for Youth and Community Studies at the University of Malta. He is also presently chair of the Foundation of Education Services (FES) and of the National Domestic Violence Commissions Research and Data Collection Subcommittee. His research interests include youth and music subcultures, juvenile justice and youth deviance.
Judith Bessant is Professor of Youth Studies and Sociology at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia. She has worked for government and non-government organisations in Australia and internationally to develop policy. She has also published widely in the areas of sociology, policy, youth studies, education, social theory and policy.
Simon Bradford is Reader in Social Sciences in the School of Health Sciences and Social Care at Brunel University. His research interests include youth and youth cultures, social policy as it affects young people and communities, and professionalisation and professional identities of those who work with young people. He is Director of the Centre for Youth Work Studies at Brunel University.
Marilyn Clark received her doctorate from the University of Sheffield and is Senior Lecturer with the Department of Youth and Community Studies at the University of Malta. Marilyns main research interests are criminal and addictive careers. She chairs the National Commission for the Abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and Other Dependencies and has published both in Malta and overseas.
Clare Choak has eight years experience researching young peoples lives, three of which were spent conducting ethnographic research with young women in deprived areas, focusing on their engagement with youth work interventions. She is also Senior Lecturer in Research Methods and Research Fellow at the University of Greenwich. Her research interests include working class young women, gang involved young people, and offending behaviour.
