Disability research

This chapter reviews "key issues in the emergence of emancipatory disability research with particular reference to the British literature. It begins with a brief discussion of research ethics in relation to the emergent critique of traditional ways of researching disability, particularly its theoretical standpoint and the disempowering role of research experts. Second, attention centres on the key features of ethical or emancipatory disability research in line with a social model framework. This stresses an avowed commitment to the empowerment of disabled people through a process of political and social change while also informing the process of doing disability research. The third section addresses claims that the emphasis on political partiality deflects attention away from important debates about the choice of methodology and data collection strategies, and their implementation when undertaking disability research"
Note: This is the penultimate draft of an article that appears in: Mertens, D. M. and Ginsberg P. E.(eds.) 2008: The Handbook of Social Research Ethics, London: Sage, pp. 458-473

This resource provides concise analytical information on international norms and standards concerning persons with disabilities that have been adopted under the auspices of the United Nations system or other inter-governmental bodies and organisations. It is a reference tool that contains information resources on the international and regional normative standards to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in society within a broad human rights framework, encompassing the full range of human rights from civil and political to economic, social and cultural rights and the different mechanisms by which these norms and standards have been adopted in to local laws.
Further, this resource is a practical guide to putting into practice rights on behalf of persons with disabilities. It also provides an educational tool designed to help identify effective measures to promote, protect and integrate the rights of persons with disabilities into all areas of national legislation, policies and programmes and to promote increased awareness of internationally accepted norms on: the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities; the full and effective integration of persons with disabilities in social life and development; and standards to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities. It will be useful for: governments; national and international policy makers; inter-governmental, international and non-governmental organisations; researchers in the area of disability rights; civil society organisations concerned with disability issues and the global disability community

“"This paper compares the construct and predictive validity of a set of disability questions tested on a sample of respondents in five Asia-Pacific countries. It finds that the construct validity of the Washington Group questions for the seeing, hearing, mobility and self care domains is good when WHO questions for the corresponding domains are used as a benchmark; this does not, however, apply to the questions for the cognition and communication domains. The Washington Group questions perform similar to corresponding WHO questions in terms of predictive validity. For the four models examined - explaining difficulty with household responsibilities, work and school, and joining community activities, as well as employment status - the different question sets perform similar in terms of significance and magnitude of the odds ratios"

"The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, is a classification of health and health-related domains. These domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives by means of two lists: a list of body functions and structure, and a list of domains of activity and participation. Since an individual’s functioning and disability occurs in a context, the ICF also includes a list of environmental factors. The ICF is WHO's framework for measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels"

“"This study uses a series of 26 focus groups to examine the nature of responses to a proposed set of questions developed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics for use in Censuses. The South African study is aimed at testing these questions with the specific view of using them in the Census 2011. These questions consist of six core questions relating to difficulties people have in doing a series of activities including seeing, hearing, walking and climbing stairs, remembering and concentrating, self-care and communicating. The South African set of questions included a further question on difficulties people have in participating in community activities like anyone else"

This paper addresses "recent debates surrounding the nature and cause of the complex process of disablement and their relevance to understanding calls for a universally accessible physical and cultural environment"
Journal of Accessibility and Design for All, Vol 1, No 1

This paper discusses "the conceptual underpinnings and findings of a household survey conducted in two regions of Pakistan which attempted to address some of these gaps in existing knowledge....The findings of this survey emphasize the continued marginalization of young people with disabilities in the areas of education, employment and marriage prospects. Additionally, reflections on the research process highlight the many challenges entailed in undertaking research on disability issues"
RECOUP Working Paper No 23

This paper outlines the economic and poverty situation of working-age persons with disabilities and their households in 15 developing countries. Using data from the World Health Survey, the study presents estimates of disability prevalence, individual-level economic well-being, household-level economic well-being, and multidimensional poverty measure. Detailed appendices are provided to support the results of the study. This paper is useful for people interested in the social and economic conditions of people with disabilities in developing countries
Social Protection Discussion Paper No 1109

"This article outlines and discusses interviews that were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with family members of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These interviews explore how families came to understand that their child had an intellectual disability; the availability of family support; and family hopes and dreams for the future, and were a part of a wider exploratory study that gathered insight from individuals with disabilities, families, and other providers of support to explore understandings and perceptions of disability in Dar es Salaam"
African Journal of Disability, Vol 1, Issue 1, Art. #32

When vulnerable groups such as disabled people are surveyed, representative welfare estimates from non-purposive sample surveys becomes an issue. This paper takes the example of Uganda and describes the connections between disability, poverty, wellbeing and social welfare. This is possibly the first time that statistically representative information on income poverty amongst disabled people has been generated for a developing country

This report explores feminist disabilities studies

This resource reviews evidence connecting disability to the risk of poverty using data from the 1998-99 Household Expenditure Survey (HES), demonstrating that in Australian households with a disabled person, poverty rates are higher and hardship is more prevalent than in households without. It then uses the HES data to estimate the costs of disability which rely upon information on household living standards

This article presents ethnographic research in Sierra Leone with people with disabilities. The author explores challenges faced with the research and the importance of engaging in more reciprocal and collaborative communal research using a social model of disability framework to try and access discourses
Journal of Disability Research, Vol 3, No 4

"This interpretive literature review of cultural beliefs and attitudes about disability in East Africa identified themes in four categories including (a) the causes of disability, (b) attitudes towards disability, (c) treatment of people with disabilities, and (d) language about disability. Referencing the medical, social, and pluralistic frameworks for conceptualizing disability, the authors sought to compare and contrast East Africa with perspectives about disability common in the developed world. Implications for policy and practice are discussed"
Review of Disability Studies : An International Journal, Vol 8, Issue 1

This report presents the disability situation in Georgia as of September 2006. The qualitative research identifies the most significant issues, challenges and barriers faced by members of the disabled population in order to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between disability and poverty in a given country and globally, and provides recommendations aimed at designing/improving policies regarding employment, education, health care, and social protection

This article explores the strengths and weaknesses of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and key informant (KI) approaches in the identification of people with disability in resource-poor countries
Disability and rehabilitation, Vol 3, No 1

This paper opens by identifying that poverty and disability are inextricably linked. The aim of this document is to provide a concrete definition of disability and explain the significance of measuring the prevalence. The purpose is to provide a set of best practices for data collection that is internationally comparable and specific to disability. This resource would be useful to anyone with an interest in data collection/ measurement and disability and development

"The purpose of this article is to assess how an approach developed in economics to analyze issues related to the standard of living, the so-called capability approach, may help us understand disability at the conceptual level"
Journal of Disability Policy Studies, Vol 16, No 4

"This paper addresses the issue of the availability of data on persons with disabilities in the Caribbean subregion....It presents the findings of a survey conducted by ECLAC aimed at gaining insight on current practices of national statistical offices and other data collecting agencies with respect to the collection of national data on persons with disabilities. Using data from the 2000 year census for eight countries, the study also examines the impact of disability on education and employment"

This database contains profiles relating to national disability information for various countries in the Asian-Pacific region. Comprehensive information is highlighted regarding general health information, statistical data on disability profile, current situation of persons with disabilities and profiles of disability related organizations. Details are provided for related references, tables, factsheets and figures, as well as Biwako Millennium Framework information. This website is useful for people seeking comprehensive national disability information in the Asia-Pacific region

This study estimated disability prevalence among adults at global, regional and country levels using internationally comparable disability data and measure. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of data from the World Health Survey (WHS) (2002-2004) for nationally representative samples of civilian, non-institutionalized populations in 54 countries. A disability was measured as having at least one severe or extreme difficulty with bodily functions (seeing, concentrating) and activities (moving around, self-care) based on an individual’s self-reports
In the 54 countries under study, severe or extreme functional or activity difficulties are highly prevalent. For all countries, disability prevalence is estimated at 14% for all adults. Low and middle income countries have higher disability prevalence compared to high income countries. Among subgroups, disability prevalence stands at 12% among working age adults and 39% among the elderly. Women have higher prevalence than men.
Disability is found to be highly prevalent among adults, with an estimated global prevalence at 14%. Disability deserves enhanced policy attention and resources in public health and international development
Discussion Paper No: 2013-06, Forthcoming in Disability and Rehabilitation

The UNDP holds a comprehensive database about different areas relevant to describing the development of a country. This database includes indicators such as literacy, average age of death, child mortality etc and is relevant for all researchers and NGOs

These regional reports are the primary focus of the International Disability Rights Monitor (IDRM) project and have been compiled by local IDRM researchers. Each report focuses upon several key areas such as legal protections, education, employment, accessibility, and health and housing services for people with disabilities. The reports include a detailed report on each country and a report card that compares the progress made by countries across the region. Reports are available on the Americas, Asia and Europe, as well as two thematic reports, in downloadable pdf format. They are useful for people interested in research on disability and development

"This report provided results of a study of living conditions among people with functional limitation in Mozambique. Two comparative studies of different indicators of living conditions were carried out. These studies include: (i) a comparative study of households with and without family member(s) with functional limitation and (ii) a comparative study of individuals with and without functional limitation. In addition, a detailed study that specifically addresses the situation of individuals with functional limitation was also conducted"
SINTEF A9348