Methods of Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences

Edited by:

Frances Fahy - National University of Ireland, Ireland
Henrike Rau - National University of Ireland, Ireland

Other Titles in:
Development Studies | Geographical Methodology | Research Methods for Politics & International Relations

January 2013 | 232 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

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. It is divided into four areas:

o Part I: examines the key challenges inherent to social scientific sustainability research, examining the issues involved in combining social and natural/physical research methods.

o Part II: covers methodologies aimed at the investigation of attitudes and behaviour observable at the local level - from families and households to individual organizations within communities

o Part III: looks at sustainability research at the regional and national level - from the link between citizens and local communities to supra-national and global organisations

o Part IV: covers recent developments in social scientific sustainability research which are both multi-scalar and interdisciplinary

Bringing together contributions from international social scientists, the book will be suitable for academic and non-academic audiences in sustainability research and will be a core teaching text for undergraduate and postgraduates on courses in sustainability and sustainable development, geography and the environmental sciences.

PART ONE: MEASURING THE IMMEASURABLE? THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Henrike Rau and Frances Fahy

Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences - Concepts, Methodologies and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity

PART TWO: RESEARCHING LOCAL LIVES: EXPERIENCES OF (UN)SUSTAINABILITY AMONG INDIVIDUALS, HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES

Stewart Barr and Jan Prillwitz

Household Analysis: Researching 'Green' Lifestyles, A Survey Approach

Anna Davies

Social Groups and Collective Decision-making: Focus Group Approaches

Mark Garavan

Local Lives and Conflict: Towards a Methodology of Dialogic Research

PART THREE: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH ON THE SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE OF CITIES, REGIONS AND NATION-STATES

Su-ming Khoo

Sustainable Development of What? Contesting Global Development Concepts and Measures

Veronika Gaube, Helmut Haberl, Karl-Heinz Erb

Biophysical Indicators of Society-Nature Interaction: Material and Energy Flow Analysis, Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production and the Ecological Footprint

Enda Murphy and Eoin A King

Mapping for Sustainability: Environmental Noise and the City

PART IV: TIME IN FOCUS

Melanie Jaeger-Erben

Everyday Life in Transition: Biographical Research and Sustainability

Henrike Rau and Ricca Edmondson

Time and Sustainability

PART V: CURRENT DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE TRENDS

Frances Fahy and Henrike Rau

Researching Complex Sustainability Issues: Reflections on Current Challenges and Future Developments

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Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 10

Frances Fahy

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... More About Author

Henrike Rau

Dr Henrike Rau is a lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. More About Author

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