Social Research Matters

From the vantage point of forty years in social research and the study of families, Julia Brannen offers an invaluable account of how research is conducted and ‘matters’ at particular times. This fascinating work covers key developments in the field that remain of vital concern to society and demonstrates how social research is an art as well as a science – a process that involves craft and creativity.

''Well-known for the path-breaking methods and analytical sophistication of her work, Julia Brannen offers insightful reflections on a remarkable career in sociological research on families that are instructive and engaging.'' Graham Crow, University of Edinburgh, "Brannen combines personal experience with a finely-tuned sensitivity to institutional dynamics to explain how social research is stimulated – and, just as often, constrained – by the broader political economy. A masterful reflection on the politics of knowledge creation." Rosanna Hertz, Wellesley College, ''This clearly written book charts, through the biographical account of a respected scholar of family life, the changing social, historical and political context of social science research in postwar UK.'' Julie Seymour, Hull York Medical School

Julia Brannen is Professor of the sociology of the family at UCL Institute of Education and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. With an international reputation for research on the lives of parents, children and young people in families, including work-family life, relations between the generations and food in families, she is well known for her methodological expertise, in particular for advancing mixed methods approaches.