Books in the Published in Association with The Open University series

Useful strategies and guidance for anyone needing to explore the practical and ethical issues around researching with children and young people.

This study presents theoretical and practical perspectives on how society intervenes in the lives of people with disabilities, demonstrating ways in which such interventions can be ineffective and often counter-productive. Topics include care and counselling, legislation, and future developments.

This book provides an essential introduction to the complex issues and debates in the field of crime control and the new politics of safety and security across the globe. The contributions to this volume present a critique of current policy and open up the field of study to new directions.

Examines the range of issues raised by ageing in contemporary society. This collection combines academic and practitioner analysis with personal accounts. It aims to reflect the diverse nature of the subject by taking a multi-disciplinary approach, including literary and historical perspectives.

Acts as a guide to conducting investigations under time- and resource-pressured conditions, equipping readers with the key skills and approaches for research designed to influence or inform development policies. This book also provides a critique of various methods and situates these approaches within 'real life' organisational settings.

Encourages early years practitioners to take a critical stance in relation to a wide range of themes and issues

The latest edition of the bestselling reader Understanding Health and Social Care combines classic works with newly commissioned material, offering readers unparalleled coverage of the key issues in health and social care. The breadth of material encompasses voices of service users, professional and lay carers, as well as academics and researchers.

Shows you how to undertake your research better, quicker, and with as little hassle as possible. This book offers a comprehensive guide to better research practice and is fully compliant with research training requirements. It will also help you to acquire research methods skills as you proceed through your Masters or PhD programme.

This study presents theoretical and practical perspectives on how society intervenes in the lives of people with disabilities, demonstrating ways in which such interventions can be ineffective and often counter-productive. Topics include care and counselling, legislation, and future developments.

This major textbook will take a fresh look at professions and professionalism - what these terms mean and what they need to mean in the future in the health and social care field. This a course text for The Open University course Critical Practice in Health and Social Care (K302).

Examines the range of issues raised by ageing in contemporary society. This collection combines academic and practitioner analysis with personal accounts. It aims to reflect the diverse nature of the subject by taking a multi-disciplinary approach, including literary and historical perspectives.

Introductory text, examining psychological and sociological perspectives on the family, and exploring the links between the family and social policy. The focus is on issues which bring the family into contact with the welfare state, such as domestic violence, child abuse, mental health and poverty.

An introduction to the principles of social and educational research, offering an assessment of issues of values and practice in social research. It discusses such issues as race, gender and power in social research; the politics and ethics of data collection; and the relevance of social research.

This text presents a set of articles which attempt to answer basic questions on the co-ordination of social life by using models of markets, hierarchy and networks. These three models aim to provide a basis for the analysis of social life that transcends time and place.

This text explores the nature and extent of racial discrimination, and the successes and failures of equal opportunities programmes. A successful balance of important articles and specially written contributions, it presents analyses of institutional racism in immigration law, housing, social work, employment training and the criminal justice system.

Blending cultural studies and political analysis, this interdisciplinary text both illuminates and furthers debates over 'race' and its meanings in contemporary society as well as in educational and social policy. It is essential reading for all those concerned with discrimination and antiracist policy.

This text and interactive CD-ROM help teachers extend their instructional practices through innovative approaches for teaching geometry as developed by the Open University's Centre for Mathematics Education.

Doing Research with Children and Young People introduces researchers to the key considerations involved in working with children and young people.

The chapters in this book outline the history and scope of educational research. They also discuss many of the major issues at stake in current debates, and exemplify the contrasting perspectives to be found in the literature. This is the companion volume to Educational Research in Action (edited by Roger Gomm and Peter Woods). It is one of two course readers for The Open University course E824 Educational Research Methods.

Rethinking Social Policy

Provides a wide-ranging and innovative rethinking of the study of Europe and social policy and offers new ways of analyzing European welfare and its future. This reader also addresses a range of other challenging and provoking issues which have been marginalized or ignored in the study of European social policy.

`A highly effective introduction to the range of approaches found in discourse analysis… a lively and intellectually stimulating Reader'' - David Silverman, Goldsmith College, University of LondonDiscourse Theory and Practice is much more than a collection of key classic articles and papers in the field of discourse analysis. The aim of the book is to introduce students to the major figures in the field, and to some of their writings which, combined with the interspersed editorial commentaries, should allow students to understand the key epistemological and methodological issues of discourse theory and practice. The Reader is organized into four coherent parts, namely: Foundations and Building Blocks; Social Interaction; Minds, Selves and Sense-Making; and Culture and Social Relations. Key readings include works by Stuart Hall, Jonathan Potter, David Silverman, Erving Goffman, Teun van Dijk, Derek Edwards and Michael Billig. Chapters introduce the student to each individual and their reading, contextualizing each in terms of their contribution to the field, theoretical standpoint and individual method of doing discourse analysis. The many didactic elements of the book make it ideal as an introduction to the study of discourse for all students of psychology, sociology, linguistics or cultural studies.This book is a course reader for The Open University course Discourse Analysis (D843).

Praise for the First Edition:`A clear and concise introduction to comparative social policy. It provides students with a framework in which to analyze the British welfare regime and to compare it with those developed and developing elsewhere'' - Hilary Graham, Professor of Applied Social Studies, University of WarwickThis extensively revised Second Edition, provides a critical introduction to British and comparative social policy. Drawing on the comparative analysis of welfare regimes, the book show how the welfare systems of individual countries can only be understood thorugh exploring the wider global context. The chapters highlight the richness, complexity and dynamics of welfare regimes in different countries, while ar the same time considering shared features and trends.Comparing Welfare States provides a unique way into analysis of the British welfare state through its wider international focus. In this extensively revised second edition, the British case is related to the experiences of the United States of America, Sweden, Germany and Ireland, and set in the context of policy issues within the European Union. Througout the authors problematize traditional notions of welfare, emphasizing variations in levels and forms of provision and in the ways in which different social groups experience welfare. Particular attention is paid to the interactions between family policies and issues of race and gender, and to the processes by which indivduals or groups are given or denied access to full welfare citizenship.This book is an invaluable text for students of British and comparative social and public policy, and to all of those interested in the study of European welfare states.Comparing Welfare States is a course book for the Open University course, Family Life and Social Policy (D311).

This fully revised and updated Second Edition of the bestselling text offers a comprehensive analysis of some of the most important developments in the study of crime.

A guide to carrying out a research project in social psychology which challenges the reader to tackle the key methodological and theoretical issues in conducting research. Eight social psychological studies are used to demonstrate a wide range of methods.

This major text takes the reader on an intellectual journey starting with the story of modern science and the impact that this has had on social scientific practice, and going on to outline and critically review the major approaches to social scientific inquiry, ranging from positivism to postmodernism.

This textbook presents an engaging discussion of social psychological research on groups, encouraging reflection and active learning in the student.

Visual Culture: The Reader provides an invaluable resource of over 30 key statements from a wide range of disciplines. Although underpinned by a focus on contemporary cultural theory, this Reader puts the study of visual culture and the rhetoric of the image at centre stage.