Programme for the 6th ESRC Research Methods Festival 2014
Tuesday 8th July AM (10.00 - 12.45 including a coffee break from 10.45 - 11.15)
Using Secondary Analysis to Research Health and Wellbeing
Convenors:
Dr Ginny Russell (University of Exeter)
Dr Susan Kelly (University of Exeter)
Dealing with methods for mapping historical and geographical trends in secondary data analysis, the session will focus first on comparing cohorts over time in order to uncover trends, and second on innovative approaches to mapping trends over geographic regions. It will begin with an overview of the problem of separating age-period and cohort effects, followed by a discussion whether it is possible to compare 'like-with-like' in different cohorts. Talks will then outline spatial methods to combine environmental and longitudinal cohort/panel data and explain the spatial microsimulation technique for small area data estimation, its benefits and limitations.
Using Secondary Analysis to Research Individual Behaviour
Convenor:
Dr Rachel Aldred (University of Westminster)
This session beings together the work of projects funded under the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis initiative, exploring a range of methodological innvovations and challenges. Five presentations will cover different ways in which projects have used existing data (both qualitative and quantitative) to better understand individual behaviour, including potential for behaviour change.
Using Secondary Analysis to Research Social Diversity and Population Dynamics
Convenor:
Dr Almudena Sevilla (Queen Mary University London)
This session will introduce some of the issues to be confronted when studying social diversity and population dynamics using large and complex survey data sets. Quantitative methods will be discussed. Methods will span from regression analysis across countries and over time (which are used to identify changes in family life in the UK and elsewhere) to quasi-experimental estimation techniques (which are used to evaluate causal effects from social policies). The session will also discuss opportunities, challenges and practicalities of existing data sources to suit research questions on family dynamics in the UK.
Using Secondary Analysis to Research Ageing
Convenor:
Professor Peter Lloyd-Sherlock (University of East Anglia)
The session will provide four presentations drawing on different projects relating to ageing and older people, all of which were funded through the first wave of the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative.
Using Secondary Data Analysis to Research Economic Performance
Convenor:
Dr Chiara Rosazza Bondibene (National Institute of Economic and Social Research)
In this session different empirical approaches are exploited to understand economic performance before and after the recent financial crisis. Different levels of secondary data aggregation (individuals, firms and geographies) are analysed. A quantile regression approach is used to investigate the public/private sector wage gap. Dynamic decomposition methods are exploited to understand productivity performance in the Great Stagnation. Survival analysis is used to estimate the effect of R&D investment on firm survival. Finally, new data is constructed to account for the impact of births, deaths and migration on firm dynamics and job growth in England 's Local Economic Partnerships.
Methodological Innovations in Qualitative Longitudinal Research
Convenors:
Professor Rachel Thomson (University of Sussex)
Dr Susie Weller (London South Bank Universiy)
This session will profile three NCRM funded initiatives supporting methodological innovation in qualitative longitudinal research. This will include a report on a year-long network and insights arising from two projects that in different ways explore the role that new social media platforms such as Skype can play in researching and understanding young people's lives in and over time. Across the session we will reflect on how those starting out in social research can integrate a ‘QLR sensibility’ into their work, looking both to the short term horizon of the PhD and longer term 'research career'.
Cross-National Research
Convenor:
Professor Asghar Zaidi (Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Southampton)
The session offers presentations from major international organisations, (namely UN, the European Commission, European Centre Vienna, HelpAge International) and draws on these organisations’ substantive cross-national research in their flagship publications. The presentations highlight the benefits and limitations of comparative research methods, for their own policy advocacy work and for policymaking communities of individual nations. They also discuss how the key challenges of diversity in norms and contexts across nations and lack of international comparability of data are dealt with, and what challenges still remain unresolved (or partly resolved) that inhibit reaping full benefits of the comparative research.
Innovations in Survey Methods
Convenor:
Professor Patrick Sturgis (University of Southampton)
Although we hear much these days about the research potential of 'naturally occurring' data which arise through the pervasive digitisation of social and economic life, planned research designs which enable valid inferences to be made from samples to clearly defined populations remain at the core of research practice throughout the social sciences and beyond. However, in order to remain relevant and robust, sample survey research methods must continually adapt to the changing social and technological patterns of contemporary life. This session presents research at the cutting edge of survey research practice from the academic and non-academic sectors.
Methods at the Boundaries of Social Sciences and Arts/Humanities
Convenor:
Dr Jen Tarr (London School of Economics and Political Science)
This session will explore the relationship between methods from the arts and humanities and the social sciences, with particular emphasis on the role of the visual arts and digital methods. It draws on several ongoing research projects including NCRM-funded projects MIDAS (Methodological Innovation in Digital Arts and Social Sciences) at IoE and Communicating Chronic Pain at LSE.
Tuesday 8th July Lunch (12.45 - 13.30)
Tuesday 8th July PM (14.15 - 15.30)
Gary King: NCRM ANNUAL LECTURE SPONSORED BY IJSRM (Chair: Patrick Sturgis)
Convenor:
Professor Gary King (Harvard University)
Chinese social media censorship constitutes the largest selective suppression of human communication in history. This large system leaves large footprints that reveal a great deal about itself. We conducted an observational study, downloading all social media posts before the government can censor some, and then detecting which are censored. We also conducted a randomised experimental study, and a participatory study where we set up our own social media site there. The keynote will demonstrate that criticisms of the state are published whereas posts with collective action potential are censored. See http://j.mp/ChinaExp and http://j.mp/ChinaObs Gary King is the Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor at Harvard University. He is based in the Department of Government (in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences) and serves as Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. King develops and applies empirical methods in many areas of social science research, focusing on innovations that span the range from statistical theory to practical application. King was listed as the most cited political scientist of his cohort among the group of "political scientists who have made the most important theoretical contributions" to the discipline "from its beginnings in the late-19th century to the present"; and on ISI's list of the most highly cited researchers across the social sciences. His work on legislative redistricting has been used in most American states by legislators, judges, lawyers, political parties, minority groups, and private citizens, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. His work on inferring individual behaviour from aggregate data has been used in as many states by these groups, and in many other practical contexts.
How to Use Oral History Methods
Convenors:
Professor Joanna Bornat (The Open University)
Professor Jenny Harding (London Metropolitan University)
Oral history as a source of evidence about the past and as a research method has been much contested, yet is increasingly used by researchers working in a range of academic disciplines, by society more widely and in the media. Criticism and popularity pose challenges which we will consider as we provide an introduction to designing oral history into research looking at: memory and reliability; sampling and representivity; the oral history interview; analysis and interpretation; ethics and emotions. We will draw on interview examples and provide guidance into accessing the wider oral history literature.
Telling the Untellable: Researching Emotionally Sensitive and Challenging Topics
Convenors:
Ms Claire Bennett (University of Southampton)
Dr Denise Turner (University of Sussex)
This session will consist of an initial presentation followed by a workshop and will focus on the challenges of researching and disseminating emotionally sensitive topics. The presenters will begin by offering examples from their experience of their doctoral research within very different but equally emotive areas and will identify common themes. The participatory workshop will then invite the audience to reflect on these themes and share their own experiences. The emphasis throughout both the presentation and workshop will be on the sequestration of certain types of emotionally challenging experience within knowledge construction and qualitative methodology.
Possibilities of Paradata: Technologies and Social Practices: Poverty Surveys 60 Years On
Convenor:
Professor Rosalind Edwards (University of Southampton)
This session examines paradata as a produce of the technology, and social and professional mores of the time. It explores the nature of paradata from Townsend’s influential 1967-68 Poverty in the UK survey, and that from the 2012 UK Poverty and Social Exclusion survey. Presenters will consider the notes written by fieldworkers in the margins of the paper-based 1967-8 survey booklets, and quantitative and qualitative analyses of computer-recorded interview behaviour from the 2012 survey. What lessons for future paradata capture can be drawn from this historical comparison?
Tuesday 8th July PM (16.00 - 17.30)
Mixing Modes in Social Surveys: Current State of the Art
Convenor:
Ms Gerry Nicolaas (Research Methods Centre at Ipsos MORI)
Mixing modes of data collection is increasingly common in social surveys. It is often claimed that mixing modes has the potential of improving population coverage and reducing non-response bias, but it may come at the price of reduced data comparability. The aim of this session is to offer an overview of what is currently known about mixing modes, with specific attention to the issues of representativeness and questionnaire design.
How to Use Visual Research Methods
Convenors:
Dr Kate Wall (Durham University)
Dr Elaine Hall (Northumbria University)
This will be a highly interactive session that explores what incorporating the visual really means including: - boundaries to the field; - study design; - potential / limitations of specific visual tools; - issues of quality, rigour and ethics; - modes of analysis; - dissemination. Participants will need to bring a piece of visual research data to answer the enquiry: “What is my research space?”. Your decisions about what constitutes visual data will be a focus for discussion. This evidence will form a data set which supports activities allowing us to problematise the visual research process in real time.
How to Expand Your Methodological Comfort Zone
Convenors:
Professor Alison Wray (Cardiff University)
Professor Mike Wallace (Cardiff University)
This workshop will explore with research students and early career academics one aspect of the transition over time from ‘novice’ to ‘expert’ researcher. Our recent investigations into the nature of expert thinking in social science research indicate that one needs a broad methodological ‘literacy’, so that the right tool can be used for the investigative job in hand. Participants will be invited to extend their comfort zone by considering different ways of addressing a complex research problem, identifying the risks and benefits of combining approaches, and considering the practicalities of managing a larger box of methodological tools.
Resolving Methodological Challenges in Criminal Justice Research
Convenor:
Dr Ian Brunton-Smith (University of Surrey)
This session addresses the methodological challenges relating to gathering data and making inferences about various populations within the field of Criminology. Specifically, it will cover the challenges involved when (a) working with official data; (b) understanding young offenders' influence on parents; (c) investigating hard to reach communities who are victims of hate crime, and (d) tracking prisoners through their sentences.
Research Careers in Different Contexts
Convenor:
Ms Kandy Woodfield (NatCen Social Research)
Want to work in research but not quite sure where to start then this is the session for you! Join us for a series of short presentations from established researchers exploring research careers in different settings. Our panel will give you an insight into the many and varied careers you can develop in research. They will share career stories and discuss the challenges and opportunities different types of research roles offer. We will conclude with an open Q&A session.
Swiss Methods Festival Guest Session: Longitudinal Studies in Conversation Analysis
Convenors:
Professor Thomas Eberle (University of St. Gallen)
Professor Esther González-Martínez (University of Fribourg & Haute école de santé Arc)
Conversation analysis explores the interplay between the situated organization of talk-in-interaction and the production of social action. Since the 1960s, it has focused on the organization of generic conversational practices in many different situations and languages. This session is dedicated to the emerging field of longitudinal conversation analysis that documents change in conversational practices across time. It shows how detailed sequential analysis of longitudinal data of talk-in-interaction helps understanding change in social practices, and ultimately people's competence for social interaction, shedding new light to phenomena classically captured by such notions as 'socialization', 'routinization', or 'learning'.
Publishing in Journals and Peer Review Process
Convenor:
Professor Melanie Nind (University of Southampton)
This workshop is intended to support any researcher wishing to publish their work in journals or wishing to learn more about the process. We will begin with a series of presentations addressing publishing in journals from a publisher's perspective; an editor's perspective; a reviewer's perspective; and a submitting author's perspective. The latter part of the session will be a more interactive question and answer session in which a panel of publisher, editor, reviewer and author will respond to the questions that partipants bring along and that arise during the presentations.
How to Manage and Share Data
Convenor:
Ms Louise Corti (UK Data Service)
While many PhDs and early career researchers acquire the skills to collect and analyse data, longer term management of data to enable sharing and reuse of those data rarely feature in training. Indeed, they are often only learned later when working on large and well coordinated research projects. This session will introduce professional data skills that can help prepare you for your research career ahead. Through the use of hands-on exercises you will gain a greater understanding of what it ‘means’ to manage and store research data, and of the responsibilities you have for meeting ethical and legal requirements.
'What is ...Crowdsourcing', 'What is...Fixed Effects' and 'What is...Small Area Estimation'
Convenor:
Dr Andy Cullis (University of Southampton)
What Is... sessions are designed to provide an introduction to a range of research methods and related methodological issues. The methods will be presented in an accessible fashion and their uses will be described. In this session the presentations will be on 'crowdsourcing', 'fixed effects' and 'small area estimation'. Each presentation will last about 30 minutes which consists of 20 for the presenter and 10 for questions/discussion from the audience, who are assumed to be interested but to have no prior knowledge of the method under discussion. Sessions will recorded and made available on the NCRM website.
Tuesday 8th July Wine Reception (18.00 - 19.00)
10 years of NCRM Wine Reception with Welcome from Malcolm Williams
Supper (19.00 - 20.30) for those staying in St Catherine’s accommodation
Tuesday 8th July Evening (20.30 - 22.00)
Laurie Taylor: Madness in Their Methodology
Convenor:
Professor Rosalind Edwards (University of Southampton)
In this talk, Laurie Taylor will provide an introduction to a number of social scientists whose unusual and sometimes frankly deviant approach to social science research has not only informed the discipline but also enhanced the meaning of life. Laurie’s weekly satirical column on university life has appeared in the Times Higher Education Supplement for the last 33 years. He presents BBC Radio 4's ‘Thinking Allowed’, looking at society and social change, and a Sky Arts television interview programme. Laurie is a visiting professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the University of Arts and Westminster University.