Doing International Research

Christopher Williams (AGSM, PhD, FRSA) is an independent academic, and visiting Fellow at the University of London (Institute of Education). He has also held posts at the universities of Bristol (Medical School), Birmingham (College of Social Science), Cairo (Conservatoire of Music), Cambridge (Global Security Programme), London (Education and Development), and the United Nations (Leadership Academy). Originally a professional trumpeter, his international interests started with a student visit to USSR in 1972 (without his parents' knowledge), across the Berlin Wall to Warsaw Pact countries in 1973, and then to Communist China. From 1980, he worked at Cairo University, to replace Soviet staff thrown-out in response to the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, and experienced the assassination of Sadat and dictatorship of Mubarak. He then broke boycotts to work in apartheid South African, setting up projects for street children. Later he joined the United Nations Leadership Academy in Jordan, but had to leave during the build-up to the US/UK occupation of Iraq. His other books include Researching Power, Elites and Leadership (Sage); Leadership Accountability in a Globalizing World; Environmental Victims - New Risks, New Injustice; Invisible Victims - Crime and Abuse against People with Learning Disabilities; Terminus Brain - The Environmental Threat to Human Intelligence. He has written for the Times Higher, Korea Herald and China Daily, and has discussed his research on BBC TV and radio, government TV in Kazakhstan and Korea, and at the British House of Commons and UN Palais des Nations.

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING WORLD RESEARCH Chapter 1: Understanding world knowledge Chapter 2: Theories and concepts in world research Chapter 3: Searching and reviewing world literature PART TWO: PLANNING THE STUDY Chapter 4: Research design and logistics Chapter 5: Research ethics and integrity Chapter 6: Choosing research frameworks PART THREE: DOING THE RESEARCH Chapter 7: Data management Chapter 8: Researching people Chapter 9: Researching populations Chapter 10: Researching places Chapter 11: Mapping places Chapter 12: Analysing world systems Chapter 13: Analysing official documents PART FOUR: USING THE FINDINGS Chapter 14: Further analysis Chapter 15: Reporting the research

This book is true to the ethos it claims to present, focusing on values such as 'thinking without borders', and 'seeing through the eyes of others'. It is innovative in its approach to world research, which makes it a necessary and welcome contribution to the field. -- Mireille Hebing