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Qualitative Activist Research

Reflections on Methods and Politics

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Methodological Issues in Applied Social Psychology

Part of the book series: Social Psychological Applications to Social Issues ((SPAS,volume 2))

Abstract

This chapter presents an analysis in which we presume that applied social psychological research is designed not only to explain, but also to provoke social change. Drawing on the early writings of Kurt Lewin (1948), and later from Carolyn Payton (1984), we view the tasks of such researchers to be the facilitation and documentation of structural and social change processes. In this chapter, we review our methodology, qualitative activist research, through a single-case study of our work with a public urban school district in the midst of restructuring its high schools. This chapter attempts to portray critically the themes, tensions, and productive possibilities that emerge once an activist research stance is assumed.

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Fine, M., Vanderslice, V. (1992). Qualitative Activist Research. In: Bryant, F.B., et al. Methodological Issues in Applied Social Psychology. Social Psychological Applications to Social Issues, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2308-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2308-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2310-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2308-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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