The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice

Martyn Hammersley′s provocative new text interrogates the complex relationship between research, policymaking and practice, against the background of the evidence-based practice movement. Addressing a series of probing questions, this book reflects on the challenge posed by the idea that social research can directly serve policymaking and practice. Key questions explored include: - Is scientific research evidence-based? - What counts as evidence for evidence-based practice? - Is social measurement possible, and is it necessary? - What are the criteria by which qualitative research should be judged? The book also discusses the case for action research, the nature of systematic reviews, proposals for interpretive reviews, and the process of qualitative synthesis. Highly readable and undeniably relevant, this book is a valuable resource for both academics and professionals involved with research.

Table of Contents:
Some Questions about Evidence-Based Practice The Myth of Research-Based Policy-Making and Practice Is Scientific Research Evidence-Based? What Counts as Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice? Is Social Measurement Possible, and Is It Necessary? The Question of Quality in Qualitative Research Action Research: A Contradiction in Terms? On ′Systematic′ Reviews of Research Literatures Systematic or Unsystematic, Is That the Question? Some Reflections on the Science, Art and Politics of Reviewing The Interpretive Attack on the Traditional Review What Is Qualitative Synthesis and Why Do It?

About the Author :
Martyn Hammersley is an emeritus professor of educational and social research at The Open University, UK. He has carried out research in the sociology of education and the sociology of the media. However, much of his work has been concerned with the methodological issues surrounding social enquiry. He has written several books including (with Paul Atkinson) Ethnography: Principles in Practice (fourth edition, Routledge, 2019), The Dilemma of Qualitative Method (Routledge, 1989), The Politics of Social Research (SAGE, 1995), Reading Ethnographic Research (second edition, Longman, 1997), Taking Sides in Social Research (Routledge, 2000), Educational Research, Policymaking and Practice, (London, Paul Chapman/SAGE, 2002), Questioning Qualitative Inquiry (SAGE, 2008), Methodology Who Needs It? (SAGE, 2011), The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice (SAGE, 2013), The Limits of Social Science (SAGE, 2014), and The Concept of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Website: http://martynhammersley.wordpress.com/

Review :
′I suspect that this book will appeal to scholars frustrated by growing demands that their work produce particular sorts of outcomes, and those interested in phronetic social science. Chapter 6, The question of quality in qualitative research, might also be of interest to PhD students as they discover their own epistemological and paradigmatic leanings. It is a book worth dipping in and out of (particularly the early chapters), which I suspect may have been its aim all along′ ′I found this book immensely interesting and can fully recommend it. Not only did it confirm many of the doubts that I have developed over the years relating to issues surrounding the nature of evidence and its relationship to practice development but it has also caused me to question my own involvement in providing ‘scientific evidence’ to various government consultations which will, in due course, inform policy. Hopefully this book will go some way to informing policy makers that the ‘gold standard’ of RCTs is not so golden after all′   Martyn Hammersley‘s provocative text seeks to interrogate the complex relationship between research, policymaking and practice, against the background of the evidence-based practice movement. Addressing a series of probing questions, this book reflects on the challenge posed by the idea that social research can directly serve policymaking and practice.