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This book introduces the power of observation prior to, and sometimes instead of, experimental manipulation in the study of animal behaviour. It starts with simple methods suitable for student projects, before going on to demonstrate the possibilities that now exist for far more sophisticated analyses of observational data. At a time when animal welfare considerations are attracting political as well as scientific debate, the potential for non-intrusive studies on animals is being increasingly recognized. Observation emerges as a valuable alternative approach, often yielding highly informative results in situations (such as in zoos, on farms, or for wild animals) where more invasive experimental techniques would be undesirable, unethical, or just plain impossible. However, to justify its place alongside experimentation as a rigorous scientific method, observation needs to be just as disciplined and systematic, and have just as much attention paid to project design in the way that observations are made and recorded. The book travels through all these stages, from the initial observations, to the formulation of hypotheses, and their subsequent testing with further systematic observations.

The purpose of the book is to provide researchers with a framework to conduct research in a culturally sensitive manner with individuals, families, and communities in diverse cultural settings in the United States, as well as in a global context within the context of three aims: (1) To understand and describe the nature and extent to which a particular problem occurs; (2) To understand the etiology or potential factors associated with the occurrence of a particular problem; (3) To evaluate programs or interventions designed to ameliorate or eliminate a problem. For each of these three aims, applications of different research methods with various population groups are discussed with considerable detail. The work presented falls into different sides of the emic–etic continuum, with some studies taking a more emic perspective (i.e., Chapter 2, a mixed methods study with American Indian populations), others presenting more of an etic approach (i.e., Chapter 3, a multicountry study of drug use in Central America), and yet others presenting an emic–etic distinction that is less salient (i.e., Chapters 4–6, a longitudinal studies of ecological factors and drug use in Santiago, Chile; a longitudinal study of ecological factors and PTSD in the City of Detroit; and a randomized clinical trial and community-based participatory research project both also conducted in Detroit). Two central themes that guided this work are that culture is not static, rather it is fluid and changing, and that cross-cultural researchers should avoid making sweeping generalizations that risk taking on essentialist characteristics. The book concludes with a call for anyone conducting cross-cultural research to include an intersectionality lens, one that encompasses a broader range of multiple identities, into their work.

Individuals working in health research want to be able to use their findings to influence health policy. However, frequently, research evidence remains detached from practice, and there is a divide between research and policy. Research for Health Policy is an introduction to the emerging genre of applied research for policy decision-making, offering new research methods that go beyond the traditional classical experimental techniques and standard qualitative methods. This practical and practice-based book is relevant to researchers in different disciplines and countries, and will equip the reader with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to deliver policy-relevant research in the government, not-for-profit, and private sectors. As a book that helps its reader to develop the blend of strategic people skills, methodological inventiveness, research entrepreneurship, creative design, and policy writing know-how that is critical to delivering useful research evidence for policy, Research for Health Policy is essential reading for anyone doing, studying, or teaching health policy advocacy and research. It also has much to offer postgraduate and professional development students and their educators, who want to move beyond the common undergraduate focus on policy content areas and policy theory/process, to learn more advanced practical research skills for policy-making.

This book offers an introduction to the philosophy and practice of Undergraduate Research in Religious Studies and takes up several significant and ongoing questions related to it. It provides an overview of fundamental issues and pedagogical questions that relate to the practice of Undergraduate Research in Religious Studies and practical models for application in the classroom. It will also serve as a dialogue partner on emerging issues and insight into pertinent questions in the field based on the experience of recognized experts in the mentoring of Undergraduate Research. Individual chapters focus on select theoretical and practical topics including the nature of collaboration between faculty and students, what it means for undergraduate students to make an “original contribution” in their research, how to identify and shape a research project that is appropriate and manageable, the types of institutional and professional support systems needed to adequately support and reward faculty who participate in this kind of pedagogy, and procedures for adequate and appropriate assessment.

This book provides qualitative researchers with a guide to inquiry that learns from, with and about children.  From fieldwork done during participant observation, to focus groups and depth interviews, to the use of artwork, photography, play and metaphors, viable methods to foreground children’s views are featured. The tools for child-centered research and its interpretation are drawn from both academic and applied qualitative inquiry, providing broad instruction across a range of kid-attuned approaches. The book takes stock of a blossoming world-wide child-centered research movement, and its promise of better grasping children’s lives. Child-focused inquiry, the book insists, has relevance to both academic theory and practical application, including public policy.

This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings (including programs, organizations, institutions, communities, and social policy) from a strengths-based perspective. Three cross-cutting concepts—a strengths-based approach to research and social action, empowerment, and narrative research methods—serve as integrating and foundational themes. Part I takes up issues of setting processes and outcomes of influence, research methods, and implications for setting and community change efforts and social policy. Part II examines how action scientists have sought to understand and amplify the voices of those individuals and communities who serve as the focus of their research and social change actions. Finally, the chapters in Part III seek to situate the rest of the volume's chapters in the context of decades of work on empowering settings, giving voice and social change.

Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. This book provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. It defines the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. It presents techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. It also describes the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduces readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students.