Book Review: Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion by Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce
Each author stems from a long line of academic research experience and achievement, offering a needed strength of resource to this topic. This book systematically lays out the approaches and methods of research that are needed for academic projects in practical theology. The authors define practical theology as drawing belief and action closer together.[1] As a resource, this book is meant to be “used at a number of stages in the research process” of a practical theology-driven dissertation.[2] Each of those stages in the research process is addressed by the book in a way that is meant to give you a “sense of what will be involved.”[3] Though there are many books on how to undertake research, this book is specifically written for those “people engaged in ministry and mission, who wish to research either their practice or aspects of the Church and world that provide the context for their practice.”[4] This book specifically aims to help readers on “how to design research questions that enables questions about practice to be answered,” “how to understand the underlying approach or methodology of research,” and “how to manage a piece of research as a project alongside other responsibilities.”[5] As Zoe Bennett offers on the back cover, “This is a book rooted in real-world research and in the real-world problems of research students contending with real-world time-management problems.”[6] Though the book deals with the requirements and postures of academia, it is written in a very practical and accessible way.
There are ten chapters to the Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion by Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce. The first chapter explores “What Makes for Good Research?” In this chapter, the authors offer six criteria that have come up consistently when working with students in the brainstorming stage. They also offer a six-point plan for a finished dissertation that should be enacted at the start of your dissertation journey. Next, the book looks at “Questionnaires” and “Asking Questions that Matter: Research.” These two chapters helpfully unpack the many uses of questionnaires and the many approaches to data collection. The chapter on research helps researchers approach a diversity of literature with different methodologies and methods. This chapter also deals with developing research questions, research proposals, and the ethics of dissertation research and data collection. The book continues with a chapter on “Participant Observation.” In this chapter, readers face the way observation of contexts and interviews can take place in systematic or organically structured or unstructured ways. This section helps researchers develop methodologies, and awareness in their interviews, being aware of biases and observation limits. In Chapter 5, “Finding a Gap in the Field: Literature Reviews” the authors help researchers to find the place where previous research has left gaps of understanding on any given topic or project. This means after learning from “what other people have already written about your topic,” you begin to “identify a gap in knowledge that your research will fill.”[7] The authors also discuss where to look for more research. Next, looking at “Interviews,” the authors talk about the qualitative methods of interviews - the various structured and unstructured ways interviews can take place, and what integrity-driven field notes should look like in interviews. There is then a look at piloting methods, gathering data, and analyzing data looks like in dissertation research. Time management becomes a big aspect of this section. Lastly, the book ends with a look at focus groups in Chapter 8, writing and editing your dissertation in Chapter 9, and then in Chapter 10, the authors look at how students should perform a documentary analysis at the end of their drafting.
As mentioned earlier, each of the authors stems from a long line of academic research experience and achievement. Author Helen Cameron is a Practical Theologian, and founder of and Research Fellow for the Oxford Center for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology, a research center based at Ripon College Cuddesdon. Ripon College Cuddesdon is a theological college in Cuddesdon, outside Oxford, England, for the Church of England. Similarly, author Catherine Duce also worked for the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology (OxCEPT) at Ripon College Cuddesdon. Utilizing their journeys, and extensive work in research and practical theology, to release an exhaustive but practical approach to dissertation research. Both of these authors have not only completed many notable research projects themselves but have worked with countless students in doing the same.
I read this book at the start of my journey through the Doctor of Ministry program at Kairos University. The Doctor of Ministry program at Kairos University is heavily integrated with practical theology and is a program "centered around a praxis model of theological reflection that stresses the continual interaction and integration of the biblical, theological, and cultural disciplines in ministry.”[8] The Kairos University approach to the Doctor of Ministry student can glean much about practical theology and its research methods from this book. Though I have developed a research question, a list of my first twelve resources, and began reading my resources - I have not yet formulated a full approach to the dissertation, but I plan to enact the author’s six-point plan for a finished dissertation at the start of my dissertation research journey.
In their book, the authors have adeptly crafted a comprehensive guide that accompanies students through each step of the dissertation research journey. Their systematic approach is commendable, offering clear direction and support throughout. However, while the Introduction, first chapter, questionnaires chapter, and literature reviews chapter stand out as particularly robust and engaging, other sections may fall slightly shorter in comparison for me. For instance, the authors' recommendations on resource and literature sourcing seem somewhat redundant in today's digitally connected landscape. Additionally, the final chapter on documentary analysis at the culmination of dissertation research and drafting lacks the same depth and clarity found in earlier chapters. Overall, this is a resource I will keep close to me, on my desk, in the years ahead in my dissertation research journey.
Cameron and Duce offer a remarkably accessible and pragmatic resource with a framework that corresponds with each step of the research process, a process they clearly outline in the first chapter of the book. I found that this book guides readers through the intricate process of dissertation research with practicality, clarity, and purpose. The authors' experiences and approachable writing style make complex concepts digestible, helping readers to embrace and grasp theoretical frameworks quite easily. The book also adopts a balanced posture, seamlessly blending academic rigor with a genuine concern for ministry and mission contexts, and the challenges and realities faced by research students.
This book, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion by Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, is recommended for ministry and mission students wrestling through research projects that are defined by a practical theology approach. I plan to maximize its usefulness by utilizing the book as a comprehensive companion throughout the entire research process in my Doctor of Ministry program at Kairos University. I would imagine this book would be a good resource for anyone who is somewhere between the initial formulation of research questions to the final stages of writing and editing the dissertation.
[1] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), xi.
[2] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), xi.
[3] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), xi.
[4] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), xii.
[5] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), xii.
[6] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), Back Cover.
[7] Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce, Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2013), 64.
[8] Kairos University. "Doctor of Ministry." Accessed April 29, 2024. https://kairos.edu/academics/programs/doctor-of-ministry/.
.jpeg)
