Description
Book SynopsisThis issue introduces a new framework for thinking about research from the standpoint of usable knowledge. Impact Validity is the extent to which research has the potential to play a role in social and political change or is useful as a tool for advocacy or activism. A series of articles have been collected for this issue that exemplify the intersection of science, activism / advocacy, and social change. These articles highlight the ways in which others have strategically grounded their research in the advocacy needs of the social/political issue they are trying to influence, and the various decisions throughout the research process that have had a bearing on its potential to be useful in addressing social problems. These decisions, which rarely receive systematic attention, take central stage.
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION
Introducing “Impact Validity”
Sean G. Massey and Ricardo E. Barreras 615
SECTION I: ADVOCACY AND GOOD SCIENCE ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Application of Empirical Research Findings in Public Health Advocacy:
Focus on Maternal, Child, and Reproductive Health
Diana Romero, Amy Kwan, and Wendy Chavkin 633
Pathways Housing First for Homeless Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities:
Program Innovation, Research, and Advocacy
Ronni Michelle Greenwood, Ana Stefancic, and Sam Tsemberis 645
Public Engagement, Knowledge Transfer, and Impact Validity
Gareth Hagger-Johnson, Peter Hegarty, Meg Barker, and Christina Richards 664
SECTION II: IMPACT IS MORE THAN GOOD DATA
Advocacy Research in Harm Reduction Drug Policies
Ernest Drucker 684
New York City’s Struggle over Syringe Exchange: A Case Study of the Intersection of Science, Activism, and Political Change
Ricardo E. Barreras and Rafael A. Torruella 694
Researching the War on Terror in Swat Valley, Pakistan: Grapplings with the Impact on Communities and the Transnational Knowledge Industry
Lubna N. Chaudhry 713
SECTION III: KNOWLEDGE USE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
An Approach to Scholarly Impact through Strategic Engagement in
Community-Based Research 734
Paul W. Speer and Brian D. Christens
Memoscopio: Producing Usable and Collectively Owned Knowledge About the World March for Peace and Nonviolence
Carolina Munoz Proto, Antonia Devoto Lyon, Carolina Villar Castillo, and Marco Battistella 754
How Much Punishment is Enough? Designing Participatory Research on Parole Policies for Persons Convicted of Violent Crimes
Carla Marquez-Lewis, Michelle Fine, Kathy Boudin, William E. Waters, Mika’il DeVeaux, Felipe Vargas, Cheryl “Missy” Wilkins, Migdalia Martinez, Michael G. Pass, and Sharon White-Harrigan 771
SECTION IV: COMMENTARY
Impact Validity: A Politics of Possibilities
Damien W. Riggs 707
