Researching Youth

Young People's lives arguably exist at the cutting edge of social change and as such youth research presents a particluar set of challenges for the social researcher. Researching Youth presents a series of case studies outlining the difficulties, rewards and insights characteristic of contemporary youth research. Featuring contributions from some of the leading current youth researchers across a range of disciplines, this collection includes chapters on: the benefits of ethnography; research on young people's drug use and drug education; researching young people's bodies; political dimensions of youth research; the value of comparative European youth research; researching young people in dance club settings; critically reflexive action research; young people as consumers and young people and music. Drawing on fascinating case studies throughout, this book will be essential reading for students and academics interested in researching young people's lives.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Contemporary Youth Research: Issues, Controversies and Dilemmas; M.Cieslik PART 1: YOUTH RESEARCH IN CONTEXT The Sociology of Youth, Problems, Priorities and Methods; K.Roberts Mods and Shockers: Youth Culture Research in Britain; P.Cohen PART 2: PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICE Framing Youth: Reviewing Locally Commissioned Research on Young People, Drug Use and Drug Education; M.Jones, J.Orme & F.Starkey Onions and Apples: Problems with Comparative European Youth Research; F.Cartmel Empowering Youth in Research and Social Processes Using Critically Reflexive Action Research: Learning From Practice; B.Percy-Smith & S.Weil PART 3: IN THE FIELD Ethnography in Practice: A Case Study Illustration; R.Edmond Researching Young Women's Bodies: Values, Dilemmas and Contradictions; L.Frost E-heads Versus Beer Monsters: Researching Young People's Substance Misuse in Dance Club Settings; K.Moore PART 4: ISSUES IN ETHNOGRAPHY Double Exposure: Exploring the Social and Political Relations of Ethnographic Youth Research; R.G.Hollands Researching Young People as Consumers: Can and Should We Ask Them Why?; S.Miles The Use of 'Insider' Knowledge in Ethnographic Research on Contemporary Youth Music Scenes; A.Bennett Bibliography Index

About the Author :
ANDY BENNETT is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey. He has published articles on aspects of youth culture and popular music in a number of books and journals and is author of Popular Music and Youth Culture (2000) and Cultures of Popular Music (2001), and co-editor of Guitar Cultures (2001). Andy is Chair of the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and co-convenor of the British Sociological Association Youth Study Group. MARK CIESLIK is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Teesside. Mark is presently conducting a project into the relationship between youth transitions and basic skills. He is also co-convenor of the British Sociological Association Youth Study Group. He is the co-editor of Young People in Risk Society: The Restructuring of Youth Identities and Transitions in Late Modernity (2002). STEVEN MILES is Head of Research at the Centre for Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Northumbria. He is author of Youth Lifestyles in a Changing World (2000), Social Theory in the Real World (2001) and Consumerism as a Way of Life (1998). He is also co-author with Malcolm Miles of a book on consuming cities shortly to be published by Palgrave. He retains a particular interest on the impact of consumption on young people's identities and their relationship to the city as a centre for consumption.