This chapter outlines some of the basic features of social research. It introduces students to the notion that social research is a process, helps to clarify the reasons for reearch, and explores the relationship between theory and research. Using the analogy of a voyage, it demonstrates that specific tasks associated with for carrying out social research tend to be ordered, but not always orderly. There are dynamic points of issue that need to be negotiated to move a dissertation project toward completion, or otherwise there is a risk of being blown off course. By understanding what is meant by the research process, and how theory can be used in social research, readers can begin to explore, describe, and explain the human world with greater confidence.
This article reports on a participant‐centred research project with English teachers in a senior secondary college in Melbourne, Australia. It builds on previous research (Weaven and Clark 2009, 2011), which showed a low take‐up of the opportunities to teach poetry in Victoria's senior secondary English curriculum. This study explores the reasons why teachers of English are unwilling to use poetry texts in their senior classes.
The teachers who participated in this study discussed and documented their attitudes towards the teaching of poetry and explored with each other the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching poetry. Their discussions – an analysis of which forms the empirical core of this article – reveal a range of explanations for teachers' reservations about offering poetry to their students. Importantly, these teachers were able to use professional discussion as a means to consider what changes in teaching practice could be successfully developed to facilitate more time spent on the teaching of poetry in senior secondary classes.
How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation looks to help readers to navigate research for a project or dissertation. It starts with an introduction to the research process and how to get started. It examines the process of developing an idea. It reviews the available literature. It then considers how to build upon the project idea, the ethical issues, and how to write a proposal. Next it considers sampling, and collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, it describes how to evaluate the project and the process of writing up.
Most eco-design research has focused on design strategies, methodologies and tools. However, to ensure that eco-design is successfully implemented, companies require strategic, tactical and operational organisational structures and systems to be considered. This article discusses a range of organisational issues in the development and implementation of eco-design and a broader approach to sustainable product development (product sustainability). \ud
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The article draws together a range of desk research, observation and unstructured conversations with eco-design practitioners and experts, as well as my own concurrent experience as global chair of a group of international experts that wrote and produced the Eco-design Standard ISO14006: 2011 (published globally in July 2011). The article demonstrates to the wider product development community that eco-design is not just an operational design issue at the level of product design and engineering, and highlights this by illustrating through practical examples the wider organisational issues in developing, managing and implementing eco-design and broader product sustainability.\ud
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On the basis of this research I led the planning, structuring and writing of the article. My co-author contributed specific research elements, expert comments and made editorial suggestions
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