Volume 6 of the series The Ethnographer's Toolkit, which takes researchers and fieldworkers through the multiple, complex steps of doing ethnographic research. Case studies, checklists, key points to remember and references are all included.

Essential Ethnographic Methods akes a mixed methods approach to introducing the fundamental, face-to-face data collection tools that ethnographers and other qualitative researchers use.

Classroom Research Partnerships guides academic researchers through the conceptualization, implementation, and dissemination of studies based in school communities. As dynamic, complex contexts, classrooms are rich with the potential for deepening our understanding of teaching and learning processes and creating robust, ecologically valid innovations in education. Designed for both first-time and experienced classroom researchers, this book’s unique framework will move readers toward more responsive, reflexive, and mutually beneficial collaborations. Each chapter presents background on key research decisions, logistical and ethical considerations, and objectives for advancing knowledge and professional practice. Examples are drawn from the research experiences of the authors as well as classroom researchers interviewed for the book, which collectively provides an array of project designs in different cultural settings from early childhood through high school. Researchers from universities, school districts, and nonprofits will find renewed inspiration to set goals that pursue positive and equitable change for the students, teachers, and communities at the heart of classroom research partnerships.

Gone are the days when researchers, policymakers, and practitioners each worked in isolation. In recent years, a few interrelated issues have emphasized the need for greater collaboration among these groups: the increased emphasis on results and accountability (particularly where public funds are at stake), the need to improve services, and the growing use of technology. This book is about these all-important partnerships, specifically the relationships between those searching for evidence and those putting evidence to use, designing and implementing policy at the federal, state, or local level. Yet the science or art of how to create partnerships and how to make them work has just begun. This book offers the reader a toolkit for effective researcher/policymaker collaborations by exploring innovations underway around the country and developing an analytic framework to describe the process. It asks questions such as: What can we learn from these examples? How can and should partners communicate? Where should partners plan together, and where is it best to leave some separation to respect the differences in our roles? Through carefully chosen and organized case studies, this book demonstrates the motivations that lead to partnerships, the core elements of successful implementation, and the lessons to be learned about sustaining these relationships. It further examines the use of research once the research phase has concluded, as well as the ever-important consideration of investing in collaboration by both non-profit and public sector funders. For policymakers, this book offers a greater appreciation of the role of research in the policy process and new insights into different types of research. For researchers, the book provides insights into how best to formulate questions, how to work closely with those most affected, and how to communicate findings in ways that can be more easily understood by those who are depending on clear answers. Students of public policy, public administration, social work, and education will find much to inform future roles in research, policy or practice.

A guide for organizational and social research in business studies and the social sciences, providing a clear framework for research design and methodology. It will be an invaluable tool for academics, researchers, and graduate students across the social sciences concerned with rigorous and relevant research in the contemporary world.

Duncan and Conner demonstrate how collaborative research on early childhood education results in gains for educators, researchers, and children alike. Drawing on examples of successful partnerships from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, they set out the successes, struggles, insights, and opportunities that come from such partnerships.

The contributing authors explore their relationships and praxis in particular research collaborations that range from large interdisciplinary teams to intimate teams between university-based researchers who collaborate with teachers or students. Successes experienced by the contributors are discussed in terms of solidarity, emotional energy, trust, agency, power, and ethical praxis.