Constantinos N. Phellas – författare

Social Research in Health and Illness offers a theoretically informed guide to practising the key social research methods in investigating health and illness. Examining both methods and methodology, the authors explore the importance of selecting the appropriate research method for the project in question, demonstrating that researchers do not simply apply a set of neutral techniques to the issues that they investigate, but take part in a dynamic, reflective engagement with social and cultural worlds in a process of continual learning. With its application of a variety of research methods to concrete cases, this book provides a sociology of specific health conditions, thus rendering them more understandable, whilst clarifying the nature of research concepts, approaches, methods and methodologies by demonstrating their use in real-life settings. Drawing on case studies involving a range of health conditions, including mental illness, HIV, diabetes, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, breast cancer, thalassaemia and multiple sclerosis, the authors examine a range of methodological issues, exploring the use of focus groups, observation, data archives, interviews and surveys, while also considering questions of ethics and analysis. A comprehensive and practical examination of research methods in use in a defined field of social scientific enquiry, this volume is essential reading for scholars, graduate students and healthcare professionals with interests in conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the fields of health and medicine.

After widespread neglect over many years, the study of human sexuality has recently come to the forefront of many of the most important debates in contemporary society and culture. This book addresses seriously the issue of how to improve the methodological basis of research into non-heterosexual sexualities, exploring the key question of what different methodological and theoretical uses of intersectionality contribute to our understandings of non-heterosexual sexualities. Bringing together research from the UK, USA, Europe and Australasia, this innovative collection rethinks traditional methodologies, creating new epistemologies and applying new approaches, whilst critically examining key issues, including communities, identities, relationships, sexualities, homosexual parenthood, fostering, civil marriage, and politics. As such, it will be of interest to researchers, scholars and students across the social sciences and health professionals.

This title was first published in 2002: Ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation are salient aspects of human identity. While diversity adds richness to the threads of our human tapestry, minorities often feel vulnerable with open disclosure and retreat from exposures they fear could leave them in jeopardy. This is especially so with gay men of colour. Xenophobia, homophobia and fear of HIV/AIDS combine to make our society a difficult one for gay men of colour. This book explores a broad range of culture-related topics specific to the experience of Anglo-Cypriot men resident in Britain who have sex with men. Along with empirical, clinical and theoretical discussions, the inclusion of personal accounts offers poignant insight into additional complexities, pressures and losses that gay men of colour must cope with in a world that often handles diversity with the closed fist of bigotry.

This title was first published in 2002: Ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation are salient aspects of human identity. While diversity adds richness to the threads of our human tapestry, minorities often feel vulnerable with open disclosure and retreat from exposures they fear could leave them in jeopardy. This is especially so with gay men of colour. Xenophobia, homophobia and fear of HIV/AIDS combine to make our society a difficult one for gay men of colour. This book explores a broad range of culture-related topics specific to the experience of Anglo-Cypriot men resident in Britain who have sex with men. Along with empirical, clinical and theoretical discussions, the inclusion of personal accounts offers poignant insight into additional complexities, pressures and losses that gay men of colour must cope with in a world that often handles diversity with the closed fist of bigotry.

After widespread neglect over many years, the study of human sexuality has recently come to the forefront of many of the most important debates in contemporary society and culture. This book addresses seriously the issue of how to improve the methodological basis of research into non-heterosexual sexualities, exploring the key question of what different methodological and theoretical uses of intersectionality contribute to our understandings of non-heterosexual sexualities. Bringing together research from the UK, USA, Europe and Australasia, this innovative collection rethinks traditional methodologies, creating new epistemologies and applying new approaches, whilst critically examining key issues, including communities, identities, relationships, sexualities, homosexual parenthood, fostering, civil marriage, and politics. As such, it will be of interest to researchers, scholars and students across the social sciences and health professionals.

Social Research in Health and Illness offers a theoretically informed guide to practising the key social research methods in investigating health and illness. Examining both methods and methodology, the authors explore the importance of selecting the appropriate research method for the project in question, demonstrating that researchers do not simply apply a set of neutral techniques to the issues that they investigate, but take part in a dynamic, reflective engagement with social and cultural worlds in a process of continual learning. With its application of a variety of research methods to concrete cases, this book provides a sociology of specific health conditions, thus rendering them more understandable, whilst clarifying the nature of research concepts, approaches, methods and methodologies by demonstrating their use in real-life settings. Drawing on case studies involving a range of health conditions, including mental illness, HIV, diabetes, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, breast cancer, thalassaemia and multiple sclerosis, the authors examine a range of methodological issues, exploring the use of focus groups, observation, data archives, interviews and surveys, while also considering questions of ethics and analysis. A comprehensive and practical examination of research methods in use in a defined field of social scientific enquiry, this volume is essential reading for scholars, graduate students and healthcare professionals with interests in conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the fields of health and medicine.