Researcher Development Initiative (RDI), 2005 - 2010

01/07/06 - 09/07/09

This project supported participants in the annual Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection by funding bursaries for tuition fees, travel and accommodation. Each year, the Summer School provided over 60 modules on social science research techniques over a six week period. Participants could choose training courses to meet their individual needs from the range in the programme. They could also attend a varied series of ‘extracurricular’ lectures and workshops on recent developments in social research methods. The series was designed to extend participants' perspectives on research possibilities. Each Summer School attracted participants from diverse backgrounds, creating an unusually rich social science milieu and so offering the benefits of cross-fertilisation of ideas and approaches. The international faculty of Summer School instructors was supported by graduate Teaching Fellows, a specialist Summer School Library, the (Essex) Institute for Social and Economic Research's Hilary Doughty Resource Library and an extensive library of computer packages and datasets. Most Summer School courses dealt with techniques of data analysis and model building. However there were also several courses on non-statistical but innovative approaches to social research, including courses on advances in rational choice, discourse analysis, policy analysis and international relations.

The Summer School offered varied experiences: from 'hands-on' data confrontation workshops focused on particular data resources such as the British Household Panel Study and the International Social Survey Programme; through modules on research design strategies and on qualitative data analytic strategies; to an active social and sports programme. For further information see: http://www.essex.ac.uk/summerschool/

Principal Investigator: Professor Eric Tanenbaum, University of Essex
Co-Investigator: Dr Elinor Scarbrough, University of Essex

Contact Details

Professor Eric Tanenbaum, University of Essex

Jo Connolly
Email: jconn@essex.ac.uk
Tel: 01206 872502