Interpretivism has an intuitive appeal to many social researchers, but they often feel ill-equipped to do it. Other social researchers tend to believe that interpretivism is a specialized niche with little relevance to their research practice. What has been lost is the awareness that interpretation is an explanatory logic and form of inquiry that is at the root of all social science research, including quantitative research. In this volume, the authors guide social researchers and instruct...

This groundbreaking book issues an urgent call to confront the global social and ecological crises that are destabilizing societies everywhere. Business as usual in social science and governance is no longer sustainable. A Call to Action Research urges academic researchers, citizens, third sector workers, public officials, and businesspeople to join forces for global social justice and ecological sustainability.Expert action researchers Davydd J. Greenwood, Johan E. Ravn, ...

National service and volunteerism enjoy a rich history in the United States and an emergent future in other parts of the world. However, there remains relatively scant evidence of overall impact of national service programs and volunteer effectiveness. This condition continues to threaten national service and volunteer programs with the risk of defunding and/or the risk of not investing sufficiently from the start. This book brings together a selection of diverse chapters written by a comb...

Participatory democracy has become an unshakable norm and its practice is widespread. Nowadays, public professionals and citizens regularly encounter each other in participatory practice to address shared problems. But while the frequency, pace and diversity of their public encounters has increased, communicating in participatory practice remains a challenging, fragile and demanding undertaking that often runs astray.This unique book explores how citizens and public professionals c...