Frances Fahy & Henrike Rau 
Methods of Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences [EPUB ebook] 

Sustainability is a key concept used by social scientists interested in interactions between human society and the environment. This text offers a systematic and critical review of established and emerging methodological approaches, as well as tools for the integrated investigation of sustainability questions. Recognising the significance of scale for sustainability efforts and measurement, its scope ranges from the local to the global. Divided into five sections:

• Part I: examines the key challenges inherent to social scientific sustainability research, focusing in particular on methodological questions that arise from recent efforts towards greater disciplinary integration.


• Part II: discusses methodologies aimed at the investigation of attitudes and behaviour observable at the local level – from families and households to individual organisations within communities.


• Part III: focuses on comparative sustainability research across different levels of socio-political organisation – from cities and regions to nation-states.


• Part IV: covers recent developments which recognise the significance of time for sustainability research and which offer innovative methodological approaches that focus on life events and long-term outcome.


• Part V: offers a critical assessment of current and future trends in social-scientific sustainability researc.

 Bringing together contributions from international social scientists, this is the resource for academics and practitioners interested in sustainability research. It will be a core teaching text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in sustainability and sustainable development, geography, environmental sociology and the environmental sciences.

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PART ONE: MEASURING THE IMMEASURABLE? THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences – Concepts, Methodologies and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity – Henrike Rau and Frances Fahy

PART TWO: RESEARCHING LOCAL LIVES: EXPERIENCES OF (UN)SUSTAINABILITY AMONG INDIVIDUALS, HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES

Household Analysis: Researching ′Green′ Lifestyles, A Survey Approach – Stewart Barr and Jan Prillwitz

Social Groups and Collective Decision-making: Focus Group Approaches – Anna Davies

Local Lives and Conflict: Towards a Methodology of Dialogic Research – Mark Garavan

PART THREE: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH ON THE SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE OF CITIES, REGIONS AND NATION-STATES

Sustainable Development of What? Contesting Global Development Concepts and Measures – Su-ming Khoo

Biophysical Indicators of Society-Nature Interaction: Material and Energy Flow Analysis, Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production and the Ecological Footprint – Veronika Gaube, Helmut Haberl, Karl-Heinz Erb

Mapping for Sustainability: Environmental Noise and the City – Enda Murphy and Eoin A King

PART IV: TIME IN FOCUS

Everyday Life in Transition: Biographical Research and Sustainability – Melanie Jaeger-Erben

Time and Sustainability – Henrike Rau and Ricca Edmondson

PART V: CURRENT DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE TRENDS

Researching Complex Sustainability Issues: Reflections on Current Challenges and Future Developments – Frances Fahy and Henrike Rau

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Dr Henrike Rau is a lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway.