Lee Harvey – författare

Originally published in 1990, Critical Social Research is a unique methodology textbook that provides students, lecturers and indeed all those involved in social research with an invaluable illustrative guide. The author argues that critical social research offers a perspective and a methodology that transcends divisions between quantitative and qualitative approaches.

At the heart of critical social research is the idea that knowledge is structured by existing sets of social relations; its aim is to provide knowledge that engages with and challenges prevailing oppressive social structures. This book is divided into three sections, each addressing a different form of oppression – those based on class, gender and race. Case studies, from research published for the most part in North America and Britain, are used extensively to demonstrate how empirical critical social research has been done. The case studies, consisting of evaluative summaries of important published research, will in themselves form a useful resource for students. They reveal a variety of techniques including historical analysis, critical ethnography, and semiological and structuralist approaches. Critical social research is extremely varied and may often appear complex: this text provides a cogent explanation of its methodological operation that links epistemological underpinnings to practical techniques.

Originally published in 1990, Critical Social Research is a unique methodology textbook that provides students, lecturers and indeed all those involved in social research with an invaluable illustrative guide. The author argues that critical social research offers a perspective and a methodology that transcends divisions between quantitative and qualitative approaches.

At the heart of critical social research is the idea that knowledge is structured by existing sets of social relations; its aim is to provide knowledge that engages with and challenges prevailing oppressive social structures. This book is divided into three sections, each addressing a different form of oppression – those based on class, gender and race. Case studies, from research published for the most part in North America and Britain, are used extensively to demonstrate how empirical critical social research has been done. The case studies, consisting of evaluative summaries of important published research, will in themselves form a useful resource for students. They reveal a variety of techniques including historical analysis, critical ethnography, and semiological and structuralist approaches. Critical social research is extremely varied and may often appear complex: this text provides a cogent explanation of its methodological operation that links epistemological underpinnings to practical techniques.

The latest volume in the Routledge International Studies in Higher Education series, Accountability in Higher Education takes an in-depth look at accountability initiatives around the world. Various evaluations, reporting schemes, and indicator systems have been initiated both to inform the public about higher education performance and to help transform universities and colleges and improve their functioning. This edited collection provides a comparative analysis of the promises, perils and paradoxes of accountability, and the potential effect on power structures and higher education autonomy, trust and the legitimacy of the sector.

Part I describes how accountability is perceived and understood in different regions of the world, identifies some of the most common elements in established accountability initiatives, especially related to quality assurance, and provides direction for possible future development. Part II focuses on responses to new demands for accountability at institutional, national and international levels, and provides practical guidance for handling accountability going forward, emphasizing the dynamic relationship between international development, government strategies and organizational change.

This volume is a must-have resource for HE managers, administrators, policy makers, researchers, HE graduate students and those interested or involved with HE accountability practices.