You are in: Australia & New Zealand
Change location

You are here

Book > Textbooks > Research Methods (General)
Research Methods for Community Change
Share
Share

Research Methods for Community Change
A Project-Based Approach

Second Edition
April 2012 | 304 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Download flyer
Everyone is a member of a community, and every community is continually changing. To successfully manage that change, community members need information. This book is an in-depth review of all of the research methods that communities can use to solve problems, develop their resources, protect their identities, and build power. With an engaging writing style and numerous real world examples, Randy Stoecker shows how to use a project-based research model in the community to: diagnose a community condition; prescribe an intervention for the condition; implement the prescription; and evaluate its impact. At every stage of this model there are research tasks, from needs and assets assessments to process and outcome studies. Readers also learn the importance of involving community members at every stage of the project and in every aspect of the research, making the research part of the community-building process.

 
Chapter 1. "But I Don't . . ."
 
Chapter 2. The Goose Approach to Research
 
Chapter 3. The Community Development Context of Research
 
Chapter 4. Head and Hand Together: A Project-Based Research Model
 
Chapter 5. Diagnosing
 
Chapter 6. Prescribing: Researching Options
 
Chapter 7. Implementing: When Research Is the Project
 
Chapter 8. Evaluation
 
Chapter 9. Beyond Information
 
Appendix A. Strategic Planning
 
Appendix B. Research Ethics and the Institutional Review Board
 
Appendix C. Writing Proposals
 
Appendix D. Data Resources

I chose this "textbook" because it is the "BEST FIT" for my teaching philosophy and practice involving project based learning through community focused action research projects by criminal justice, social work and gerontology students, all of whom take a common research methods course in their junior year titled "Research Methods for the Human Services."

Mr Christopher Dunn
Criminal Justice Program, Bowling Green State University
September 26, 2014
Report this review

PSY 4339: Seminar in Community Psychology integrates applied research knowledge.

Dr Dawn Henderson
Psychological Sciences, Winston-Salem State University
August 20, 2014
Report this review

Excellent description of community based research. Great insights into the challenges of doing community research and working in academia.

Bruce Deforge
Social Work Dept, Univ Of Maryland Baltimore
May 1, 2014
Report this review

Focus too narrow for my course, i.e., not the best fit for an introductory social work research course. Great supplement to other texts for students interested in community-based research.

Dr Wendy Hulko
Social Work, Thompson Rivers Univ
July 11, 2013
Report this review

I did not formally adopt, but have recommended it to students interested in PAR and community-based programming/research

Ms Caryn Saxon
Criminology & Criminal Justice , Missouri State University
May 5, 2013
Report this review

Book is aligned with the most current issues facing community change and allows for class discussion based on topic areas highlighted in book.

Dr Lason Hines
School Of Architecture, Prairie View A & M University
April 22, 2013
Report this review

Good basic overview of participatory action research and approaches to conducting research with communities.

Dr Wendy Griswold
Landscape Arch Cmty Plan Dept, Kansas State University
March 29, 2013
Report this review

Currently using this text, excellent for the class of international development and economic development graduate students.

Dr Faith Ngunjiri
Campolo College of Graduate and Professional Studies, Eastern University
February 3, 2013
Report this review

I enjoyed the text, however, I did not think it was appropriate for an introductory course to research, which emphasizes the scientific method and all of it's steps. May be more useful as a supplementary to some of my other courses.

Ms Shaneika Bailey
Sociology, University of Guyana
March 20, 2012
Report this review

May consider in near future

Dr Michael Cronin
School of Social Work, Monmouth University
March 5, 2012
Report this review
Key features

KEY FEATURES

  • Demonstrates how the research can be integral to the change project itself, from the early identification of an issue through evaluation of an intervention's impacts
  • Offers rich examples of the project-based research model, with examples from community theater, geographic information systems, activist research, and social research used by community workers
  • Provides an assessment tool for those involved in community change projects, so that they understand what stage of the project-based cycle they are in and can make strategic choices

NEW TO THIS EDITION

  • Includes a new Chapter 3 on community development and research, helping researchers understand community development processes so that their research can be more useful
  • Provides new start-to-finish applications of the model to actual projects, showing readers how it works in practice

Sample Materials & Chapters

TOC

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

For instructors

Purchasing options

Please select a format:

Order from:

ISBN: 9781412994057
£84.00
Buy from here
SAGE Research Methods Promotion

Sage Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. Sage Research Methods links over 175,000 pages of Sage’s renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since Sage Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.

With Sage Research Methods, researchers can explore their chosen method across the depth and breadth of content, expanding or refining their search as needed; read online, print, or email full-text content; utilize suggested related methods and links to related authors from SAGE Research Methods' robust library and unique features; and even share their own collections of content through Methods Lists. Sage Research Methods contains content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks, the entire “Little Green Book,” and "Little Blue Book” series, two Major Works collating a selection of journal articles, and specially commissioned videos.

Find out more