Methods of Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences by Frances Fahy (Engli

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Sustainability is a key word in the environmental vocabulary informing how research projects in the social sciences are framed. This book provides a systematic and critical review of the key research methods used when studying sustainable strategies and outcomes.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Sustainability is a key concept used by social scientists interested in interactions between human society and the environment. This text offers a systematic and critical review of established and emerging methodological approaches, as well as tools for the integrated investigation of sustainability questions. Recognising the significance of scale for sustainability efforts and measurement, its scope ranges from the local to the global. Divided into five sections: Part I: examines the key challenges inherent to social scientific sustainability research, focusing in particular on methodological questions that arise from recent efforts towards greater disciplinary integration.Part II: discusses methodologies aimed at the investigation of attitudes and behaviour observable at the local level - from families and households to individual organisations within communities.Part III: focuses on comparative sustainability research across different levels of socio-political organisation - from cities and regions to nation-states.Part IV: covers recent developments which recognise the significance of time for sustainability research and which offer innovative methodological approaches that focus on life events and long-term outcome.Part V: offers a critical assessment of current and future trends in social-scientific sustainability researc. Bringing together contributions from international social scientists, this is the resource for academics and practitioners interested in sustainability research. It will be a core teaching text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in sustainability and sustainable development, geography, environmental sociology and the environmental sciences.

Author Biography

Dr Frances Fahy is the Head of Geography and Senior Lecturer in National University of Ireland, Galway. Dr Fahy specialises in sustainable consumption, environmental governance and planning at all scales. She has published widely and led a number of research projects exploring sustainable consumption, environmental governance, innovative methods for public participation in planning and the development of collaborative planning tools including community derived indicators and community mapping. Her publications include two edited volumes – Methods of Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences (with Prof Henrike Rau, Sage, 2013) and Challenging Consumption (with Prof Anna Davies and Prof Henrike Rau, Routledge, 2014) – and peer reviewed articles in Global Environmental Change, Area, Nature and Culture, and Journal of Consumer Policy.  Frances is the Past President of the Geographical Society of Ireland (2012-2014). She is a past Chair of the Planning and Environment Research Group (PERG) of the Royal Geographical Society (2007-2012). Frances was the recipient of the 2013-14 Fulbright Scholar Award and during her research leave in the US she explored the experiences of academics involved in policy-relevant research in the field of sustainability. Dr Henrike Rau is a lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. 

Table of Contents

PART ONE: MEASURING THE IMMEASURABLE? THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCESSustainability Research in the Social Sciences - Concepts, Methodologies and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity - Henrike Rau and Frances FahyPART TWO: RESEARCHING LOCAL LIVES: EXPERIENCES OF (UN)SUSTAINABILITY AMONG INDIVIDUALS, HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIESHousehold Analysis: Researching ′Green′ Lifestyles, A Survey Approach - Stewart Barr and Jan PrillwitzSocial Groups and Collective Decision-making: Focus Group Approaches - Anna DaviesLocal Lives and Conflict: Towards a Methodology of Dialogic Research - Mark GaravanPART THREE: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH ON THE SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE OF CITIES, REGIONS AND NATION-STATESSustainable Development of What? Contesting Global Development Concepts and Measures - Su-ming KhooBiophysical Indicators of Society-Nature Interaction: Material and Energy Flow Analysis, Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production and the Ecological Footprint - Veronika Gaube, Helmut Haberl, Karl-Heinz ErbMapping for Sustainability: Environmental Noise and the City - Enda Murphy and Eoin A KingPART IV: TIME IN FOCUSEveryday Life in Transition: Biographical Research and Sustainability - Melanie Jaeger-ErbenTime and Sustainability - Henrike Rau and Ricca EdmondsonPART V: CURRENT DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE TRENDSResearching Complex Sustainability Issues: Reflections on Current Challenges and Future Developments - Frances Fahy and Henrike Rau

Review

Methods of Sustainability Research fills a large gap in the literature of sustainability and green issues from a social science perspective. While there is a lot of work on what un/sustainability is... what we have less of is the varieties of methodological approaches to researching un/sustainability... An important book demonstrating the further maturation of the social science study of un/sustainability.Dr John BarryQueens University Belfast, author of The Politics of Actually Existing UnsustainabilitySustainable development, or sustainability, is one of the defining issues of our time. However relatively little has been written about different approaches about how to systematically research this issue. This innovative and important book fills that gap and will be widely read and used by both academics and practitioners alike. -- Dr. Pádraig Carmody, Trinity College DublinFahy and Rau's collection provides useful perspectives on how 'sustainability' as a term can be opened up conceptually and methodologically. The essays will prove attractive to researchers pursuing interdisciplinary questions on how societal development can be reconciled with the consumption of resources in different regional and economic contexts. -- Dr. William Jenkins, York University, CanadaThis international and interdisciplinary collection exploring the concepts and methods of social science research into sustainability will be valuable for students, researchers and community activists wishing to research the need for or impact of environmental policies. Throughout, the focus is upon helping individual researchers to think critically about 'sustainability', ask salient questions and produce robust conclusions. -- Dr. Karen E. Till, NUI MaynoothAn original and significant contribution to contemporary discussions surrounding the question of methodological approaches to researching and thinking about sustainability and 'green' issues internationally. The excellent selection of chapters and case studies offered gives the reader a range of approaches and tools that can be developed within other contexts, as well as identifying critical faultlines in the field and offering suggestions for future research.-- Dr. Nessa Cronin, NUI GalwayThis book offers two critical points of discussion that are relevant to all those interested in ′sustainability′ as a nexus between human society and environmental resources, including researchers, teachers and students, as well as policy makers.It takes on a bold step towards that dual aim, one that merits further discussion and exploration in the research community, but also in classrooms and in the public realm.  -- Marlyne SahakianMethods of Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences is not a "How To" book with tips made for debutants or graduate students in search for a textbook to start their masters; it is rather for doctoral students and academics who feel they need interdisciplinary or even transdisciplinary methods for the understanding of environmental issues. This is the main strength of this volume which does not concentrate on results or conclusions as such but rather on the studying and comparison of fresh methodologies related to sustainability.    -- Yves Laberge, Associate fellow at the Groupe de recherche EA 1796, ACE, at the Université de Rennes 2, FranceTh[is] book has a good collection of different researches and methodologies that present a wide variety of the sustainability field as well as various open questions presenting issues for further research. Since the book brings together studies from different disciplines it enables presenting the complexity of society-nature interaction and demonstrates the needs and the benefits of interdisciplinary approach in sustainability research. These qualities make this book useful for both social science researchers as well as students. -- Zeev Stossel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Review Quote

This book offers two critical points of discussion that are relevant to all those interested in 'sustainability' as a nexus between human society and environmental resources, including researchers, teachers and students, as well as policy makers. It takes on a bold step towards that dual aim, one that merits further discussion and exploration in the research community, but also in classrooms and in the public realm.

Details ISBN0857025228 ISBN-10 0857025228 ISBN-13 9780857025227 Format Paperback Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Edited by Henrike Rau DEWEY 300.72 Year 2013 Author Henrike Rau Short Title METHODS OF SUSTAINABILITY RESE Language English Media Book Pages 232 Publication Date 2013-01-21 Illustrations Yes UK Release Date 2013-01-21 NZ Release Date 2013-01-21 Birth 1954 Affiliation Professor of Public Law, University of Manchester Position Lecturer Qualifications M.D. Alternative 9780857025210 Audience Undergraduate Publisher Sage Publications Ltd Imprint Sage Publications Ltd AU Release Date 2013-01-20 We've got this

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