Research

 

You will find a complete range of our peer-reviewed monographs, multi-authored and edited works, including original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.

Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
 

Books: Research

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Embedded Research in Practice
Authors: and

All too often, human systems are criticised for failing those they are meant to serve. One example is the growing awareness of the overlooked needs of adolescents facing harm in their communities. This has highlighted a need for new systems that enable practice that is ethical, effective and grounded in supportive relationships. But how can this be achieved?

Appealing to those interested in Contextual Safeguarding and beyond, this book shares ‘real-life’ lessons from research, covering:

• Practical guidance and tools for changing systems using embedded methods;

• Navigating complex relationships and emotions in organisational change; and

• Using theory and concepts to support change.

The book’s lively and creative style makes it accessible for researchers, students, professionals and anyone committed to system change in children’s social care.

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Troubling Testimonio in Post-war Peru

This book traces the process of producing testimonio with the children of Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), an insurgent group during Peru’s internal war (1980-2000). It examines how the group navigates the postwar struggles over memory while dealing with “the children of terrorists” stigma.

Drawing from a cycles of inquiry approach, the book theorises three movements for memory work: a realist presentation of testimonial narratives, a ‘politics of memory’ engaging with the conditions of production, and a ‘poetics of memory’ that troubles memory, voice, and representation for qualitative inquiry in postwar contexts.

Challenging the notion of war-torn countries as pure devastation, the author invites readers to see them as sites of knowledge and creativity with much to offer for education, peace studies, and social justice research.

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Creative research methods for data generation have expanded over recent decades and researchers are eager to take a creative approach to data analysis.

It is challenging to bring creativity into data analysis while retaining a systematic, rigorous, and ethical approach. Written by experts in the field, this handbook addresses these challenges. The chapters adapt analytical techniques in creative ways for novice and expert researchers. Existing and novel methods from analysis of quantitative data to embodied, performative, visual, written, arts-based, and collaborative analysis are featured with case examples that are transferable across disciplines.

This collection offers a definitive practical guide to creative data analysis.

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A Guide to Connecting Stories and Inquiry
Authors: and

Discover how fiction can breathe life into your research.

Fiction – in the form of everyday storytelling, prose, plays, films, folktales, and comics – can be powerful and resonant. This engaging book introduces the ways in which fiction can inform, inspire and enliven all kinds of research.

Presenting a range of case studies and examples from diverse disciplines, this book explores how and why researchers have employed fiction and fictional techniques throughout the research process, including using fiction to communicate research findings. An essential primer to thinking creatively with fiction, the book:

 • discusses a range of theoretical perspectives on the use of fiction in research;

 • explores challenges and ethical questions for researchers using fiction;

 • offers practical advice, creative prompts and resources.

Enabling the reader to reflect on how fiction might be used in their own research, this comprehensive introduction will help students and experienced researchers embark on their own research-based fiction projects in no time.

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A Creative Approach to Teaching, Learning, and Research

This book invites us to consider the profound impact that poetry can have in shaping personal and professional development in a higher education setting.

Suitable for educators, learners, and practitioners, it offers a transformative learning approach in using poetry for teaching, assessment, research, and reflection. The book includes diverse examples, case studies, and practical exercises, demonstrating poetry's application in personal and professional development in a higher education setting.

Each chapter guides readers through these processes, empowering them to integrate poetry into their own teaching and learning practices in a way that is creative, inclusive, and impactful.

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Over the past decades, ‘photovoice’ has emerged as a participatory and creative research method in which participants capture and discuss their reality through photographs.

This indispensable ‘how-to’ book with exercises and visual aids takes novice and veteran researchers through the practicalities and ethics of applying this approach. Written by experienced teacher Nicole Brown, the book:

• outlines the conceptual foundations and historical development of the approach;

• redefines photovoice as a research method and as a framework;

• explores how photovoice can be used in all stages of research from data collection to dissemination;

• provides guidance and food for thought to get researchers started on their project.

Each chapter ends with exercises that focus readers• learning and understanding by practically engaging them in the work presented throughout. The examples and visual aids will help them recognise all the details presented and represented in a photograph.

For researchers who would like to try their hand at photovoice as a method or as a framework to foster a more participatory approach, this is the ultimate guide to kickstart their project.

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A Guide for Researchers in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Since the mid-2010s, virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced rapidly. This book explores the many opportunities that VR can offer for humanities and social sciences researchers.

The book provides a user-friendly, non-technical methods guide to using ready-made VR content and 360° video as well as creating custom materials. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to using VR, providing helpful, real-world examples of how researchers have used the technology. The insights drawn from this analysis will inspire scholars to explore the possibilities of using VR in their own research projects.

Open access
Editors: and

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters, or violent conflict present numerous challenges for researchers. Faced with disruption, obstacles, and even danger to their own lives, researchers in times of crisis must adapt or redesign existing research methods in order to continue their work effectively.

Including contributions on qualitative and digital research from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the Americas, this volume explores the creative and thoughtful ways in which researchers have adapted methods and rethought relationships in response to challenges arising from crises. Their collective reflections, strategies, and practices highlight the importance of responsive, ethical, and creative research design and the need to develop methods for fostering mutual, reflexive, and healthy relationships in times of crisis.

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