New book demonstrates the role of mixed methods research in tackling poverty
Launched in October, the book Mixed Methods Research in Poverty and Vulnerability: Sharing ideas and learning lessons, contains nine contributions, which clearly and accessibly share experiences from mixed methods studies in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Colombia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and the UK.
Neil Dawson, Sarah Coulthard, and Allister McGregor are among the ESPA researchers who have contributed to the book.
This book is particularly timely. The ways in which society defines, assesses and attempts to combat poverty are still subjects of debate, and in need of refinement. These issues are now under the global spotlight with the inception of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which target the eradication of all forms of poverty, everywhere in the next 15 years.
This collection of works adds to the momentum behind mixed methods in development research. Their application is relevant to fields of economics, social policies, environmental problems, migration, urban and rural development contexts.
“Indeed each of these fields and more are included within the newly-hatched SDGs: 17 wishes and 169 goals which set the bar stratospherically high without actually providing a guide for how to get there,” says contributing author Neil Dawson. “It will be fascinating to see the contribution which mixed methods research plays in trying to define, measure and achieve these worthy targets over the next 15 years.”
The book is edited by Keetie Roelen form the Institute of Development Studies and Laura Camfield from the University of East Anglia, and is published by Palgrave Macmillan.
