Rejecting the Null: Research and Social Justice Means Asking Different Questions

Abstract

The focus of this article is on the specific ethical issues related to social justice research and the practical implications of engaging in social justice research, including the potential impact of research results on practice, policy, and advocacy at the local and national level. Specific recommendations are offered, including identifying research questions that advance social justice, managing researcher bias and power differentials, improving research methodologies, disseminating research, and giving back and advocating for social justice concerns.

Teaching Social Justice Research to Undergraduate Students in Puerto Rico: Using Personal Experiences to Inform Research

“…In contrast, social justice researchers share the perspective that the function of research is to empower communities to ameliorate social conditions (Chapman & Schwartz, 2012). Unlike positivist research perspectives, social justice researchers work closely with community members as research partners rather than research subjects.…”

“…This perspective fosters meaningful research questions, guides scientific inquiry, and informs interpretation and analysis (Chapman & Schwartz, 2012). While there has been considerable attention on research efforts guided by social justice, we understand very little about how to train students in rigorous social scientific research methods that are grounded in the principles of social justice.…”

Data and Research that Matter: Mentoring School Counselors to Publish Action Research

“…Access to practitioner-driven research findings in scholarly publications can empower school counselors to implement data-driven interventions in existing comprehensive school counseling programs, directly impacting student achievement (Chapman & Schwartz, 2012). Therefore, practitioner-researchers should strive to make their findings readily available to relevant populations.…”

Values and Social Justice in Counseling

“…The following articles in the special section were selected to represent provocative and dynamic philosophical, ethical, spiritual, and religious perspectives on counseling and social justice work. The goal of this special section was to expand the understanding of social justice work by exploring (a) the underlying philosophies of counseling and social justice work and how these influence counselors’ work with clients (Harrist & Richardson, 2012); (b) the impact of prosocial approaches to career counseling (i.e., choosing a career that benefits individuals and society) as a social justice intervention (Dik, Duffy, & Steger, 2012); (c) the ethical issues related to conducting social justice research (Chapman & Schwartz, 2012); (d) the spiritual and cultural issues associated with social justice work from Native American ways of experiencing the world, known as “walking in beauty” (Eason & Robbins, 2012); and (e) the influence of religion on the social justice movement and how the Christian perspective may or may not represent a social justice orientation (Edwards, 2012).…”