Research Methods in Human Rights
A Handbook
Published on 28. September 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
496 pages
978-1-78897-638-1 (ISBN)
Description
Methodological discussion has largely been neglected in human rights research, with legal scholars in particular tending to address research methods and methodological reflection implicitly rather than explicitly. This book advances thinking on human rights methodology, offering instruction and guidance on the methodological approaches to human rights research.
Seeking to bridge the methodological deficit often compounded by the interdisciplinary nature of human rights research, contributions by leading scholars in a range of evolving fields, provide an up-to-date assessment of human rights methods. The various chapters apply these methods to different substantive areas including discrimination, the right to food, the right to water, public health and gender. This book gives a comprehensive treatment of disciplinary approaches, discusses methodological options and provides advice on how best to conduct human rights research in the crossroads of different academic disciplines.
Accessible and engaging, this book will be of keen interest to students and scholars working in human rights research, both those approaching it from a legal standpoint and those of other social science disciplines. Both practical and timely, the book will also lend itself to human rights practitioners and policy-makers.
Contributors: B.A. Andreassen, H. Bondevik, I. Bostad, R. Burke, A.-L. Chane, S. Engle Merry, L. Ferguson, A. Hellum, S.L.B. Jensen, D. Kacinski, M. Langford, T.M. Martin, S. McInerney-Lankford, D. Petrova, H.-O. Sano, M. Satterthwaite, M. Scehinin, A. Scharma, K. Shields, G. Ulrich, S. Walker
Seeking to bridge the methodological deficit often compounded by the interdisciplinary nature of human rights research, contributions by leading scholars in a range of evolving fields, provide an up-to-date assessment of human rights methods. The various chapters apply these methods to different substantive areas including discrimination, the right to food, the right to water, public health and gender. This book gives a comprehensive treatment of disciplinary approaches, discusses methodological options and provides advice on how best to conduct human rights research in the crossroads of different academic disciplines.
Accessible and engaging, this book will be of keen interest to students and scholars working in human rights research, both those approaching it from a legal standpoint and those of other social science disciplines. Both practical and timely, the book will also lend itself to human rights practitioners and policy-makers.
Contributors: B.A. Andreassen, H. Bondevik, I. Bostad, R. Burke, A.-L. Chane, S. Engle Merry, L. Ferguson, A. Hellum, S.L.B. Jensen, D. Kacinski, M. Langford, T.M. Martin, S. McInerney-Lankford, D. Petrova, H.-O. Sano, M. Satterthwaite, M. Scehinin, A. Scharma, K. Shields, G. Ulrich, S. Walker
Reviews / Votes
'The expert contributions represent critical and reflective assessments of how to research human rights. The volume discusses different disciplinary perspectives, including law, economics, history, political science and ethnography. In a global setting where major social challenges require multidisciplinary responses, the volume is especially welcome for the careful presentation and exploration of different disciplinary perspectives but also interdisciplinary methodology. The contributors offer helpful discussions of the nuances and complexities within each approach. An essential work for any reading list on human rights.'--Rory O'Connell, Ulster University, Northern Ireland'This book contributes to bringing human rights research out of its infancy. Having matured over three decades, it is high time to raise the discussion on its methodology to a new level. With its roots in legal studies, human rights research today embraces a much wider range of disciplines. Offering a profound, interdisciplinary analysis, this book offers the reader a deepened understanding across many fields. It will soon be a classic in higher education and research institutions.'
--Morten Kjaerum, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Sweden
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78897-638-1 (9781788976381)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Bard A. Andreassen | Claire Methven O'Brien | Hans-Otto Sano
Research Methods in Human Rights
A Handbook: Second Edition
Book
11/2025
2nd Edition
Edward Elgar Publishing
€78.13
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Edited by Bard A. Andreassen, Professor, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway, Hans-Otto Sano, Senior Researcher, Emeritus, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark and Siobhan McInerney-Lankford, The World Bank, US
Content
Contents:
1. Human rights research method
Bard A. Andreassen, Hans-Otto Sano and Siobhan McInerney-Lankford
Part I Human Rights Research Methods inside Disciplines
2. The art and science of interpretation in human rights law
Martin Scheinin
3. Legal methodologies and human rights research: Challenges and opportunities
Siobhan McInerney-Lankford
4. Core principles in argumentation and understanding: Hermeneutics and human rights
Hilde Bondevik and Inga Bostad
5. Economics and human rights
Edward Anderson
6. From the normative to the transnational: Methods in the study of human rights history
Steven L. B. Jensen and Roland Burke
7. The potential of ethnographic methods for human rights research
Sally Engle Merry
Part II Human Rights Research Methods across Disciplines
8. Interdisciplinarity and multimethod research
Malcolm Langford
9. Research ethics for human rights researchers
George Ulrich
10. Comparative analyses of human rights performance
Bard A. Andreassen
11. Inside the organization. Methods of researching human rights and organizational dynamics
Hans-Otto Sano and Tomas Max Martin
12. Quantitative methods in advocacy oriented human rights research
Margaret Satterthwaite and Daniel Kacinski
13. Challenges of Human Rights Measurement
Simon Walker
14. Methods of monitoring the right to food
Kirsteen Shields
15. Social network analysis in human rights research
Anna-Luise Chane and Arjun Sharma
16. Researching discrimination
Dimitrina Petrova
17. Assessing work at the intersection of health and human rights: why? how? and who?
Laura Ferguson
18. Studying how to study human rights in plural legal contexts: An exploration of plural water laws in Zimbabwe
Anne Hellum
Index
1. Human rights research method
Bard A. Andreassen, Hans-Otto Sano and Siobhan McInerney-Lankford
Part I Human Rights Research Methods inside Disciplines
2. The art and science of interpretation in human rights law
Martin Scheinin
3. Legal methodologies and human rights research: Challenges and opportunities
Siobhan McInerney-Lankford
4. Core principles in argumentation and understanding: Hermeneutics and human rights
Hilde Bondevik and Inga Bostad
5. Economics and human rights
Edward Anderson
6. From the normative to the transnational: Methods in the study of human rights history
Steven L. B. Jensen and Roland Burke
7. The potential of ethnographic methods for human rights research
Sally Engle Merry
Part II Human Rights Research Methods across Disciplines
8. Interdisciplinarity and multimethod research
Malcolm Langford
9. Research ethics for human rights researchers
George Ulrich
10. Comparative analyses of human rights performance
Bard A. Andreassen
11. Inside the organization. Methods of researching human rights and organizational dynamics
Hans-Otto Sano and Tomas Max Martin
12. Quantitative methods in advocacy oriented human rights research
Margaret Satterthwaite and Daniel Kacinski
13. Challenges of Human Rights Measurement
Simon Walker
14. Methods of monitoring the right to food
Kirsteen Shields
15. Social network analysis in human rights research
Anna-Luise Chane and Arjun Sharma
16. Researching discrimination
Dimitrina Petrova
17. Assessing work at the intersection of health and human rights: why? how? and who?
Laura Ferguson
18. Studying how to study human rights in plural legal contexts: An exploration of plural water laws in Zimbabwe
Anne Hellum
Index