Insight on new opportunities for social research

NCRM monitors the evolving research landscape to ensure our courses and resources meet the training needs of the social science community. We gather insight on key issues to shape our activities and help researchers to prepare for upcoming opportunities and challenges.

Our work includes reviews of emerging trends, national collaborations with other institutions across the UK and engagement initiatives that enable us to hear directly from researchers. Through this page, you can access briefing papers on new issues affecting social research, information about our latest initiatives and examples of how we respond to researcher needs.

Methods Futures

The Methods Futures project explores emerging factors, including technological and research related developments, that may impact social research. Our aims are to support researchers in anticipating change and to build capacity in a strategically driven methodological response.

The project includes an expanding series of briefings focused on important socio-technical changes that are likely to have a bearing on social research methods and may have greater future impact. Each development raises a range of epistemic, methodological and interdisciplinary concerns, which should build awareness of potential impacts on social research.

Access the Methods Futures Briefings

Data-driven research skills

NCRM is monitoring the growing demand for data-driven research skills and supports a national expansion of training in this area. As part of this, we published a document which outlines the case for a co-ordinated UK-wide approach that supports researchers throughout their careers.

NCRM, which already runs a variety of courses related to data-driven research, produced the new document in response to the Economic and Social Research Council’s recently published vision for data-driven research skills in the UK.

Read the NCRM publication on data-driven research skills

Engagement with researchers

A significant aspect of our collaboration with the research community is our engagement work, which enables us to have a rich, ongoing dialogue with researchers, bring together like-minded scholars and support innovation.

These engagement activities include the co-ordination of several networks and groups. The Data Resources Training Network provides a forum for data services funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to share intelligence, collaborate and run events on key topics.

The DTP Training Network enables doctoral training partnerships to share resources and insight, and respond to the training needs of the postgraduate research community.

Our methodological special interest groups are vibrant forums that connect researchers who work with related methods. The groups allow researchers to share knowledge, ideas and scholarship, offer inspiration to their peers and hear from leading voices in their fields.

Find out about NCRM’s engagement work

AI in social research

Events

NCRM is running a series of activities throughout 2024 focused on AI in social research. These include the NCRM Annual Lecture 2024, which discussed ways of addressing the challenges that AI poses to social research. Watch the NCRM Annual Lecture 2024

Our event MethodsCon: Futures included a number of sessions on AI as part of a huge range of workshops, presentations and panel discussions. The event provided an opportunity for attendees to engage with, explore and develop futures, with a particular focus on themes that are likely to have significant impact on humanity’s development over the coming decades. Read more about MethodsCon: Futures

Training

We are running a series of training events on how AI can be used in research. These include an online workshop, How to Use Gen AI: A Beginner’s Workshop for Researchers, and our free autumn school, The Foundations of Digital Research Methods: An Advanced Critical Introduction, which featured a section on AI. We have also run a free in-person workshop, Generative AI and the Future of Social Research: Opportunities, Challenges and Implications.

Videos

Our engagement strategy in 2024 includes a focal area on AI. As part of this, we’re publishing a series of videos in which leading researchers discuss AI-related issues from a variety of perspectives.

The first video features a conversation with Dr Wayne Holmes on the use of AI tools in education research. Watch the video

The second video features a conversation between Cathy Pearl, Saul Albert and Elizabeth Stokoe, who discuss what happens when researchers in conversation analysis meet conversational technology experts who work in industry. Watch the video