NCRM 2014-19 Partnership and projects

The fourth phase of NCRM had a somewhat different structure to that which had been in place from 2004-14.  Still directed by Prof Patrick Sturgis (now at London School of Economics), the centre was a partnership between three institutions with leading international reputations in undertaking methodological research and training in the social sciences: the Universities of Southampton, Manchester, and Edinburgh. Together the partner institutions delivered three core activities:

1. A programme of methodological research to develop innovative ways of collecting and analysing new and traditional forms of social science research data. The programme comprised a set of inter-related work-packages undertaken by the collaborating partners and also a set of commissioned projects to complement and integrate with the Centre's research work-packages. There was an International Visitor Exchange Programme, further collaborative projects and centre-linked PhD students.
2. A programme of face-to-face training events in advanced areas of methodological practice, delivered by leading national and international experts at locations accessible to social scientists throughout the UK. The centre organized the Research Methods Festival 2016 and Research Methods Festival 2018, which moved for the first time to the University of Bath.
3. Develop and expand NCRM's existing heavily used website, including the ReStore repository to incorporate a range of new features and functions, such as tailoring presentation of material to user-specified interests and developing a range of new online resources to enable social scientists to learn about new methods at their own pace and convenience.