Researching Sustainability : A Guide to Social Science Methods, Practice and Engagement

This book is for students and researchers across the social sciences who are planning, conducting and disseminating research on sustainability-related issues. Real-world sustainability problems cross many boundaries, and this is the first book to guide students and practitioners through the practical and theoretical challenges of doing interdisciplinary research in this vital and emerging area.

Researching Sustainability contains many in-depth, 'hands on' accounts by expert contributors, providing real-life examples and lessons that can be put to use immediately. Coverage includes: 

• the general challenges that sustainability presents to researchers, including frictions between sustainability and scientific tradition; complexity; research paradigms; interdisciplinarity; social-environmental interactions; and ethical concerns.
• a host of social science based research methods and approaches. Each chapter presents a different method; its challenges and suitability for different situations; an in-depth example of the method in action; insights and lessons.
• dissemination of sustainability research findings, including influencing policy, communicating with school children and working with the media.

The book concludes with a critical synthesis of issues and methods examined in the book together with a discussion of future research pathways. This book is an essential tool for students, researchers and practitioners in planning, implementing and evaluating their sustainability research.

Dr Alex Franklin is a Senior Fellow within BRASS, with considerable research experience across a range of sustainability areas. She has been an ESRC Fellow and recently completed a large-scale ESRC-funded project on community sustainability. She has published on aspects of sustainability in such journals as Journal of Law and Society, Journal of Environment and Planning, and International Planning Studies.Professor Paul Blyton is Professor of Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology at Cardiff University and a Research Associate within BRASS. He is the author and editor of fifteen books, the latest of which is Ways of Living, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.