Full Description
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 research/practitioner 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.
Contents
Introduction 1. Working as a Practitioner-researcher 2. Getting Started: Developing and Designing Research for Practice 3. Research Ethics: Participation, Social Difference and Informed Consent 4. Doing Ethnography and Using Visual Methods 5. Asking Questions: Interviews and Evaluations 6. Using Quantitative Methods: Designing Surveys and Evaluations 7. Documentary Research and Secondary Data 8. Virtual and Online Research with Young People 9. Presenting Research to Different Audiences 10. Research and Work with Young People: Politics, Participation and Policy
