Title: Exploring theories and expanding methodologies : where we are and where we need to go /
Authors: Barnartt, Sharon N.; Altman, Barbara Mandell.
Publisher: JAI,
Year: 2001
Subjects: Disability studies.; Sociology of disability.; People with disabilities; Disabled Persons
Abstract: Research in all areas of social science must have theoretical and empirical underpinnings; this volume's intention is to examine those underpinnings as they relate to the study of disability from a social science perspective. One of the reasons for the need to examine these underpinnings comes from the displeasure, frequently expressed by disability scholars and activists, about the quality of research relating to disability. This displeasure spans the gamut from the models used, the research questions asked, the vocabulary used, to analyses, results and ethical abuses. Some activists are demanding a say in what research is done as well as how it is done. They are demanding control over how their bodies and minds are used in research; they are also attempting to wrest control from researchers who don't understand disability or who don't share their interpretation of it.
Contents: Introduction: exploring theories and expanding methodologies; where we are and where we need to go -- The social model of disability: an outdated ideology? -- The conceptualization of disability -- Using role theory to describe disability -- Definitions of disability, and their operationalization, and measurement in survey data: an update -- Examining the fit between deafness and disability -- Methodological issues in the measurement of persons with disabilities -- Measures of functional limitations: the effects of person-level vs. household-level questionnaire design -- Inclusion of disabled populations in interview surveys: review and recommendations -- Interpretive research and people with intellectual disabilities: politics and practicalities -- Problems of methodology in cross-cultural disability studies: an Indian immigrant example -- Content analysis methodology for studying news and disability: case studies from the United States and England -- Case study method for research on disability.