Research for Development: A Practical Guide - Softcover

Sophie Laws; Caroline Harper; Nicola Jones; Rachel Marcus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 144625237X ISBN 13: 9781446252376

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

Research for Development offers a comprehensive guide to commissioning, managing and undertaking research in development work. It serves both as a practical reference manual and an indispensable learning tool.

Divided into three parts, the book provides a complete overview of the research process spanning:

- the uses, planning and management of research

- reviewing existing evidence

- learning development research skills

- choosing research methods

- undertaking ethical research

- writing an effective research report

- promoting research uptake and assessing research

- monitoring and evaluation

This fully revised second edition also includes a new section on how to use the internet for research. Its 16 chapters are enriched by a variety of international case studies, checklists of key points, learning exercises, helpful references to further reading and engaging illustrations. The book also includes a detailed glossary of terms.

Drawing on considerable hands-on experience, Research for Development is an ideal practical companion for students of development studies and public policy, as well as practitioners in the field.

About this title

Review:

In the decade since it was first published, Research for Development has become the 'go to' text for development practitioners, students and researchers alike. This substantially revised second edition is even better: brought fully up to date with many new topics and chapters, this book is comprehensive, authoritative and highly informative. Whether one is seeking a quick definition or brief explanation of a subject, or needing a more detailed guide to how to go about doing research for development, this book is quite simply indispensible.
David Lewis
Professor of Social Policy and Development, London School of Economics & Political Science

Research for Development is undoubtedly the best guide to its subject that we have. The first edition has become an indispensable work of reference for development researchers and practitioners engaged in commissioning and managing research. Oxfam staff around the world have benefitted from its use, and all of us are looking forward to the publication of the new edition. Sophie Laws, Caroline Harper, Nicola Jones and Rachel Marcus are to be congratulated for the work they have put into updating the text and keeping it relevant to the ever-changing demands of development research, and for their contribution to our common goal of making the world a better place..
Duncan Green
Senior Strategic Adviser, Oxfam

--Reviews

About the Author:

Sophie Laws is head of policy and research for Coram, a UK charity that aims to develop and promote best practice in the care of vulnerable children and their families. With a PhD in sociology, she has long experience of managing practical research and evaluation in health and social care, mainly in services for children and young people, and is committed to clear communication and giving practitioners tools they can use. In addition to independent consultancy for UN organizations, UK government departments, UK and international charities, she has worked for save the Children, the College of Health, the Sickle Cell Society, and the NHS. Co-authored publications include: So You Want to Involve Children in Research? for Save the Children Sweden and the UN Study on Violence against Children; reports and articles on concur¬rent planning for young children, children’s participation in Family Group Conferences, kinship care, and patients’ experiences of medical treatment and research and Reseach for Development, A Practical Guide (Sage, 1st and 2nd editions, 2003 and 2013).

Caroline Harper has a PhD in social Anthropology and is currently Research Fellow and programme leader of social Development at the Overseas Development Institute. She has previously been Associate Director of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, director of research programmes on childhood poverty, including the Young Lives longitudinal study, and research and poilcy manager at Save and Children. She has led multi-year, longitudinal and medium-sized programmes of research and polich analysis, including on childhood, gender, choronic poverty, exclusion and empowerment and she has undertaken work for multiple funders including multilateral and bi-lateral agencies and NGOs. Recent studies include: the impacts of the global economic crisis on chidren's and women’s wellbeing; the nature of discriminatory social institutions and girls’ exclusion; and the relationship between poverty and child protection. Her publications include Children in Crisis: Seeking Child-sensitive Poilicy Responses, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); Research for Development, A Practical Guide (Sage, 1st and 2nd editions, 2003 and 2013); Do the Facts Matter? NGO's Research and Policy Adcocacy, in Edwards, M. & Gaventa, J., Global Citizen Action (Lynne Reinner, 2001).

Nicola Jones has a PhD in Political Science and is a Research Fellow in the Social Development Programme at the Overseas Development Institute. She specialises in research, evaluation and policy advisory work on social inclusion, social protection, and the linkages between knowledge, policy and power. She has carried out work for a range of funders (African Child Policy Forum, AusAID, DFID, EU, IDRC, Oak Foundation, Oxfam International, Plan International, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women). Her research is primarily qualitative and participatory, although she is also very interested in mixed methods approaches, and she prioritizes partnerships with local research organizations. She has published widely including the following co-authored book: Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World: Beyond Mothers and Safety Nets (2013, Zed Books); Knowledge, Policy and Power in International Development: A Practical Guide (2012, Policy Press); Children in Crisis: Seeking Child-sensitive Policy Responses (2012, Palgrave Macmillan); Child Poverty, Evidence and Policy: Mainstreaming Children in International Development (2011, Policy Press).

Rachel Marcus is a freelance social development consultant with 20 years' experience of research, research management and practical development work, focusing particularly on social policy and children. She has worked as a research and policy advisor for Save the Children, a social development advisor for DFID and as a research and social development consultant for UNICEF and the World Bank. In the past few years her work has focused on the efforts of economic reforms on children and youth, on child protection and on social inclusion issues more broadly. She contributed to the first edition of this book, and the continued to work on practical research guidance for development workers, and in 2012 co-authored a web-based toolkit for analysing social development issues. 

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 144625237X
• ISBN 13: 9781446252376
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 448