Change Research

Corey Shdaimah; Roland Stahl; Sanford Schram

Corey Shdaimah, Roland Stahl and Sanford Schram

Change Research

A Case Study on Collaborative Methods for Social Workers and Advocates

Columbia University Press | 2011

https://doi.org/10.7312/shda15178

Overview
Contents

About this book

Collaborating with community members adds a critical dimension to social work research, providing practitioners with intimate knowledge of a community's goals and needs while equipping community advocates with vital skills for social change. Sharing the inspiring story of one such partnership, Corey Shdaimah, Roland Stahl, and Sanford F. Schram recount their efforts working with an affordable housing coalition in Philadelphia, helping activists research low-income home ownership and repair. Their collaboration helped create the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund, which funnels millions of dollars to people in need. This volume describes the origins of their partnership and its growth, including developing tensions and their diffusion in ways that contributed to the research. The authors personalize methods of research and the possibilities for advocacy, ultimately connecting their encounters to more general, critical themes. Building on the field's commitment to social justice, they effectively demonstrate the potential of change research to facilitate widespread, long-term difference and improve community outcomes.

Author information

Corey Shdaimah is assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

Roland Stahl is assistant professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts School of Social Work.

Sanford F. Schram teaches social theory and social policy at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College, and is an affiliate to the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Reviews

Roberta R. Iversen, author of Jobs Aren't Enough: Toward a New Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families:
Erudite, accessible, eloquent, and cutting-edge informative, this book beautifully blends the normative and empirical, all in the service of social work's traditional focus on marginalized, underserved, and generally voiceless persons and the institutions and policies that purportedly serve them.

Nancy A. Naples, University of Connecticut:
Change Research demonstrates the power of participatory action research for identifying creative alternatives to neoliberal housing policy. The authors reveal the limits of traditional policy research and share insights gained from negotiating the challenges and rewards of participatory approaches. Accessible, practical, and written by activist researchers who are passionate about the value of research for social change, this book offers important lessons for social workers, policy makers, advocates, and social scientists interested in using their skills to advance social justice.

Michael Reisch, University of Maryland, School of Social Work:
Instead of perpetuating the dichotomy between 'evidence-based' and 'change-oriented' research, the authors argue compellingly that social justice goals must inform all aspects of the research process and that value-based research has equal validity with conventional academic research. In doing so, they reestablish the connection between social science and social action central to the history of social work.

John Tropman, author of Successful Community Organization and Leadership: A Skills Guide for Volunteers and Professionals:
This is a one-of-a-kind book. The authors do not just talk about collaboration, they tell the story of the nitty-gritty process of trying—successfully—to work with community advocates. A wonderful book about how it all worked and could and should work at the ground level.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
List of Tables and Figures Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	ix
List of Abbreviations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	xiii
Prologue Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	xv
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1. Changing Research / Researching Change Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	16
2. Reevaluating Evaluation Research: Sowing the Seeds of Distrust Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	39
3. Introducing Our Collaborative Research Case Study: Working with the Women’s Community Revitalization Project Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	52
4. Quantitative Data Analysis in a Collaboration Research Project: Low-Income Home Repair in Philadelphia Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	64
5. “Everyday World Policy Analysis” and Low-Income Home Repair in Philadelphia: Walking Through Programs from the Client Perspective Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	82
6. From Research to Recommendations: The Politics of Presentation Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	104
7. The Challenges of Doing Collaborative Research 120 “On Tap” Rather Than “on Top” Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	120
8. A Model for Collaborative Research Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	139
Conclusion Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	172
Appendix A: Resources for Doing Community-Based Research Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	181
Appendix B: American Housing Survey Definitions Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	184
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	187
References Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	189
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	203

Change Research

A Case Study on Collaborative Methods for Social Workers and Advocates

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