Approaches to Social Research

Abstract This book explores the relationship between key methodological debates in social research and the special context of studies concerning deaf/D people(s). The book is organized around seven topics: being d/Deaf as a site of contested identity and representation; epistemology and the boundaries of claims for population specific and plural epistemologies; ethics and the implications of collective identity on standard ethical principles and practices; populations and sampling given the highly heterogeneous nature of d/Deaf people(s); narrative methodologies re-examined in light of the visual nature of sign language; interpretation, translation and transcription and the context of multiple modalities; and information and communication technologies as transformative epistemologies. Through these themes, new aspects of old debates within social research become evident, and the book challenges specialist field of studies by, with, and about d/Deaf people. Throughout, the book shows how the field provides challenges to established ways of thinking and working. This book is of interest to scholars within and outside of research concerning d/Deaf people(s), as well as practitioners in the fields of deaf education, social work and allied health professions.