Abstract
One of the enduring challenges of Africana studies is that it needed a repository of its central theories, paradigms, methodologies, and ideational frameworks in concentrated book form. With the publishing of the book Research Methods in Africana Studies, this query has been quelled. Associate Professor Serie McDougal of the Department of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University, who holds the masters in Africana studies and the PhD in African American studies, has brought forth a text that illuminates and highlights the central ideas of Africana studies concerning epistemology and research methods. This is the first time in the history of the American Academy that the unique cultural and historical implications of Africana people have been on full display concerning research methods. The text centers its ideas on the needs of the Afro-centric researcher and instructor who understands the nuanced and sophisticated ways empirical undertakings should be folded into the cultural and historical realities of Africana people. While many main books of this nature have a rather cold and abstract tone and tenor, this book is accessible to anyone who wants to take the time to understand its central ideas without unnecessary polemics attached. McDougal set out to give instructors and researchers a text that is both informative and easy to use, and this is clearly evident in how the book is organized. The text starts off in the preface titled, “Speak to the Posterity” reminding the reader of the importance of the activist intellectual tradition and its roots in classical African civilizations. McDougal (2014) writes, In ancient Kemet, the Sesh, or scribe, was expected to use knowledge and skill to serve the people by ensuring justice, caring for the vulnerable and the environment, respecting persons and bearers of dignity and divinity, and working for future generations. (p. viiii)
Here, the ground work is laid to help the practitioner understand philosophically how knowledge should be used from an Afro-centric perspective.
The book has 13 chapters with tables and illustrations that cover every topic needed for an understanding of research methods in Africana Studies.
Africana Studies and the Science of Knowing
Methodology in Africana Studies Research
Ethics in Research
Research Design
Choosing a Topic: Writing a Question, Reviewing the Literature
Measuring Social Reality
Sampling Procedures
Non-Reactive Methods
Scales and Indexes
Survey Design: Asking Questions
Experimental Design
Qualitative Field Research and Data Analysis
Quantitative Data Analysis
The value of this book is inherent in its possibility for a variety of uses. The instructor not trained in Africana studies now has a text that can grant familiarity with the unique corpus of ideas located in the Africana intellectual research enterprise. This work has wide utility as an undergraduate senior capstone text as well as broad application as a graduate student training resource. This text can also be used as a reference guide for librarians seeking to demonstrate their competence and understanding of the discipline of Africana Studies from a research perspective. Research Methods in Africana Studies is a groundbreaking work that will be of great service for many years to come.