Martyn Hammersley′s provocative new text interrogates the complex relationship between research, policymaking and practice, against the background of the evidence-based practice movement. Addressing a series of probing questions, this book reflects on the challenge posed by the idea that social research can directly serve policymaking and practice.
Key questions explored include:
– Is scientific research evidence-based?
– What counts as evidence for evidence-based practice?
– Is social measurement possible, and is it necessary?
– What are the criteria by which qualitative research should be judged?
The book also discusses the case for action research, the nature of systematic reviews, proposals for interpretive reviews, and the process of qualitative synthesis.
Highly readable and undeniably relevant, this book is a valuable resource for both academics and professionals involved with research.
Cuprins
Some Questions about Evidence-Based Practice
The Myth of Research-Based Policy-Making and Practice
Is Scientific Research Evidence-Based?
What Counts as Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice?
Is Social Measurement Possible, and Is It Necessary?
The Question of Quality in Qualitative Research
Action Research: A Contradiction in Terms?
On ′Systematic′ Reviews of Research Literatures
Systematic or Unsystematic, Is That the Question? Some Reflections on the Science, Art and Politics of Reviewing
The Interpretive Attack on the Traditional Review
What Is Qualitative Synthesis and Why Do It?
Despre autor
Martyn Hammersley is an emeritus professor of educational and social research at The Open University, UK. He has carried out research in the sociology of education and the sociology of the media. However, much of his work has been concerned with the methodological issues surrounding social enquiry. He has written several books including (with Paul Atkinson) Ethnography: Principles in Practice (fourth edition, Routledge, 2019), The Dilemma of Qualitative Method (Routledge, 1989), The Politics of Social Research (SAGE, 1995), Reading Ethnographic Research (second edition, Longman, 1997), Taking Sides in Social Research (Routledge, 2000), Educational Research, Policymaking and Practice, (London, Paul Chapman/SAGE, 2002), Questioning Qualitative Inquiry (SAGE, 2008), Methodology Who Needs It? (SAGE, 2011), The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice (SAGE, 2013), The Limits of Social Science (SAGE, 2014), and The Concept of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Website: http://martynhammersley.wordpress.com/