Principles of Social Research Methodology

Niaz Ahmed Khan (PhD) is currently Pro Vice Chancellor at the Independant University Bangladesh (IUB). He is Professor and former Chairman at the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka; Senior Academic Adviser-BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD, BRAC University); and Chairman, Bangladesh Tropical Forest  Conservation (Arannayak) Foundation. He pursued doctoral and post-doctoral education and research in the University of Wales Swansea, University of Oxford, and Asian Institute of Technology. His career reflects a rich blend of academic and practising development management experiences gained in Bangladesh, Thailand and the UK. Besides serving as Bangladesh Country Representative of IUCN–the International Union for Conservation of Nature (the world’s largest environmental network [intergovernmental] organization, some of his other former positions include: Senior Programme Coordinator, UNDP-Bangladesh; Forest and Natural Resource Management Specialist (RETA 5900), Asian Development Bank (ADB), South Asian Fellow, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford; Distinguished Visiting Researcher, The American University in Cairo; and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Asian University for Women (AUW). He has published extensively, and his articles/chapters have appeared in journals and books with such reputed publishers as Springer, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, Sage, Oxford University Press, Wiley, Palgrave Macmillan, and Elsevier. He is also involved in extensive journal management and editorial services; examples include Member, International Advisory Board Community Development Journal (Oxford: Oxford University Press); and Member, Editorial Advisory Board Area Development and Policy (Routledge: Taylor & Francis).
Rajendra Baikady (Ph.D.) holds a dual appointment as a URC Special Post-Doctoral Fellow and as a Senior Research Associate inat the Department of Social Work and Community Development, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition to this, Baikady is a Principal Investigator (Summer research Fellowship) at International Socioeconomics Laboratory, Harvard University, United States. He completed his first Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2019–-2020) and was awarded Golda Meir Fellowship by Lady Davis Trust at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has wide research experience in evaluating best practices of social work education and practice at both local and global contexts. His recent books include The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Work Education (Palgrave Macmillan), Social Welfare Policies and Programmes in South Asia (Routledge), Building Sustainable Communities- Civil Society Response in South Asia (Palgrave Macmillan) and Social Welfare in India and China: A Comparison (Palgrave Macmillan).