This text focuses on research methodology and approaches in the complex and sensitive area of violence against women, and provides important insights into, and critical approaches to, the evidence base for policy and practice.

There has been growing interest and concern about the topic of violence against women, reflected in a number of government policy initiatives and research projects on the subject. A wide range of methodological issues has arisen from this, but there remains a large gap in the literature for a book which addresses these issues head on. This book aims to meet this need, focusing on research methodology and approaches in this complex and sensitive area, and providing important insights into, and critical approaches to, the evidence base for policy and practice. The book consists of chapters from leading authorities in the field. It contains chapters linking issues of epistemology, theory and method in relation to women and violence; and then builds on these areas to explore how the evidence base provided by feminist research on women and violence has impacted on and been translated into policy and practice, the barriers encountered, and how it contributes to our understanding and theorising of violence against women.

1 Researching women and violence: evidence for change - Tina Skinner, Marianne Hester, Ellen Malos and Betsy Stanko
2 Evaluative research: challenges to feminist methodology - Liz Kelly and Linda Regan
3 Feminist quantitative methodology: evaluating policing of domestic violence - Sue Grilfiths and Jaina Hanmer
4 Evaluating evaluation: critically assessing existing methods of evaluating domestic violence programmes - Nicola Ballantyne
5 Researching violent fathers - Lynne Harne
6 Interviewing people in power: practice and analysis - Tina Skinner
7 The worst of two worlds? Researching South Asian children's experience of domestic violence - Umne Iman
8 Issues of ethics when conducting social research with young people - Mel McCarry
9 Listening to women's voices: the participation of domestic violence survivors in services - Gill Hague, Audrey Mullender and Rosemary Aris
10 Undertaking work with partners in other nations: research on violence against women in China - Marianne Hester
11 Balls and permissions: researching the link between football and domestic violence - Jill Radford and Eve Hudson
12 In memoriam: Sue Lees - 1951-2002
: her life, research and influence - Nicole Westmarland and Jill Radford
Index