Making Research Work

Making Research Work demonstrates how research can be fostered andapplied more effectively to child care policy and practice. Drawingon a wealth of experience, current literature and governmentdocuments, the contributors present a comprehensive discussion ofkey contemporary issues relating to child care research.Recommendations are given for recognising and responding to boththe fundamental and the specialist issues that challenge thevarious stages of the research process. Practical guidelines aregiven for
* undertaking single-case design research

* appraising current child care literature and officialstatistics

* accessing hidden or hard-to-reach populations
* dissemination

* establishing a research centre

* preparing a research proposal to submit to a funding body

* commissioning and funding research
This book s practical approach and unique focus will appeal topractitioners, researchers, policy makers and students seeking tounderstand and enhance the relationship of research to policy andpractice in the child care context. THE RELATIONSHIP OF RESEARCH TO POLICY AND PRACTICE.
Research and Development Strategies in the National Health Serviceand Personal Social Services in the United Kingdom (D.Iwaniec).
The Impact of Research on Policy and Practice: A SystemicPerspective (J. Pinkerton). The Influence of Research on Child CarePolicy and Practice: The Case of 'Children Who Wait' and theDevelopment of the Permanence Movement in the United Kingdom (G.Kelly).
CHILD CARE RESEARCH: SOME CHALLENGING CONTEMPORARYDEVELOPMENTS.
Evidencing Effectiveness: The Use of Single-Case Designs in ChildCare Work (K. Dillenburger).
Literature Reviewing: Towards a More Rigorous Approach (K. HigginsJ. Pinkerton).
The Importance of and Difficulties with Official Statistics: A CaseStudy of Child Care Data (V. Switzer).
Researching Hidden Populations(K. Higgins).
Child Participatory Research: Ethical and MethodologicalConsiderations (C. McAuley).
Developing a Strategy for Disseminating Research Findings (M.Monteith).
PROMOTING AND SECURING A BASIS FOR RESEARCH.
Preparing a Research Proposal for Funding Purposes (P.McCrystal).
Commissioning Research (M. Monteith).
Who and How to Approach Regarding Research Sponsoring (P.McCrystal).
Promoting Research Through the Establishment of Research Centres(D. Iwaniec).
Index.

"... a solid overview of issues relevant to agency-based research in child care... provides a useful complement to the specialised research literature." (European Journal of Social Work, Volume 3/2, 2000)

Dorota Iwaniec is a Professor of Social Work and Director of the Institute of Child Care Research at Queen's University of Belfast. She has extensive clinical and research experience of working with children and their families and, in particular, in failure to thrive, neglect, emotional abuse, and behavioural and emotional problems of children and adolescents. She has been researching failure-to-thrive children for the last 25 years and has recently completed a 20-year follow-up study. Prior to coming to Queen's University she worked as a social worker, researcher, and trainer in Leicester for nearly 30 years, both at the Social Services Department and at the Department of Child Health at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Making Research Work demonstrates how research can be fostered and applied more effectively to child care policy and practice. Drawing on a wealth of experience, current literature and government documents, the contributors present a comprehensive discussion of key contemporary issues relating to child care research. Recommendations are given for recognising and responding to both the fundamental and the specialist issues that challenge the various stages of the research process. Practical guidelines are given for

• undertaking single-case design research
• appraising current child care literature and official statistics
• accessing hidden or hard-to-reach populations
• dissemination
• establishing a research centre
• preparing a research proposal to submit to a funding body
• commissioning and funding research

This book?s practical approach and unique focus will appeal to practitioners, researchers, policy makers and students seeking to understand and enhance the relationship of research to policy and practice in the child care context.