Do cycles of violent, intense, but short-lived bursts constitute a significant mode of global star formation in dwarf galaxies? Such events can have a profound effect on galaxies, particularly those with shallow potential wells, and observational measures of their prevalence inform our understanding of a wide range of issues in galaxy evolution. In this talk, I will discuss how work based on the Local Volume Legacy Survey has built a fairly consistent picture of the average strengths, durations and frequencies of starbursts in low mass systems. The inconsistencies that remain, however, are challenging our understanding of star formation in low-density environments. I will discuss one of these challenges, which involves the an apparent discrepancy between star formation rates that are measured with the H-alpha emission line and the far ultraviolet flux. Ways of clarifying the potentially serious implications of this discrepancy will be described, and I will conclude by introducing LEGUS, a new HST Treasury UV-optical imaging program of 50 nearby galaxies, which will provide a powerful new dataset for solving this problem.