Past Events
View all past events that have been listed in the methods@manchester diary.
Monday 30 April 2012
Model selection: towards a restricted-set, multi-model procedure
Presenter: Graeme Hutcheson
2 - 4pm, Room 3.214, University Place
This session describes some of the problems commonly encountered by researchers dealing with survey and questionnaire data when selecting a model. A detailed explanation of multicollinearity is provided along with a critique of methods commonly used for model selection (eg., step-wise and all-subset selection). An alternative method for model selection is proposed that attempts to address some of the major issues. Although this seminar makes use of R and the R-commander, the techniques described can be applied using any statistical software. It is recommended that participants have some experience of regression techniques.
Friday 27 April 2012
Logit models: analysing categorical data
Presenter: Graeme Hutcheson
2 - 4pm, Hanson Room, Humanities Bridgeford Street
This session describes the theory behind logit models - a set of models that enable categorical data to be efficiently analysed.
This session will look in detail at the binary logit model and also logit models for ordered and unordered categorical data (proportional-odds and multinomial logit models). Although this seminar makes use of R and the R-commander, the techniques described can be applied using any statistical software. It is recommended that participants are familiar with OLS regression.
Friday 20 April 2012
Introductory training to Eurostat website and databases
9.30am - 4.00pm, Room 4.2, Roscoe Building, University of Manchester
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union situated in Luxembourg. Its task is to provide the European Union with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions. This free workshop will provide an introduction to Eurostat's resources.
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Generalized linear models: why you need to know about them
Presenter: Graeme Hutcheson
2 - 4pm, Room 3.214, University Place
This session describes how a wide range of data can be analysed using generalized linear models. The unified theoretical framework these models provide allows regression techniques to be applied to many different types of data and research designs. GLMs allow a huge range of research problems to be analysed using techniques that postgraduates can learn within an acceptable time-frame. Although this seminar makes use of R and the R-commander, the techniques described can be applied using any statistical software. No previous experience with statistical modelling is necessary.
Monday 16 April 2012
R and the R commander
Presenter: Graeme Hutcheson
2 - 4pm, Room 3.210, University Place
This session describes the R-commander (see http://www.r-project.org/), a graphical interface that allows users to access the power of R through a menu system (similar to SPSS). R and the R-commander are open-source statistical packages that are freely available for all computer platforms. The R-commander makes using R as easy as SPSS or STATA. No previous experience with R is necessary.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Manchester Digital Media Network
Workshop 2: Methods and Challenges of Researching Social Networking Sites
Room G306a, Jean MacFarlane Building, 9:30am - 5pm
Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are now widely used in everyday activities for both work and leisure. As a result, they are also increasingly used in social science research, whether as a site or object of research, or as a tool to recruit research participants or disseminate one’s work. Yet, there is no single methodology for studying SNS, nor an established methodological ‘toolkit’. The aim of the workshop will be precisely to try and create such a toolkit, firstly by mapping several possible approaches to SNS (qualitative and quantitative) and familiarising the participants with available software to apply some of these approaches. Secondly, the workshop will showcase several research projects that are at the forefront of developing new methods to studying Facebook and Twitter, by inviting leading international scholars in the field. Lastly, the workshop will offer an opportunity for participants to discuss their own work, receive feedback and develop their own methodological tools.
Thursday 8 March 2012 – International Women’s Day
Studying Gender Policy Change Over Time Workshop
11.00 - 3.30, Boardroom, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester
This one day workshop is for those interested in researching gender policy change, and for those interested in studying policy change over time using quantitative or mixed methods. It will provide an introduction to the questions, data and methods which can be used to approach the study of gender policy change over time.
Friday 2 March 2012
NVivo version 9 Introductory one-day hands-on workshop
A workshop by Christina Silver, University of Surrey
9.30am - 4pm, Basement computer lab, Humanities Bridgeford Street building
The course will suit those who are complete beginners and those who have looked at the software and tried to use it in a limited extent. However you should have some idea about what your approach to qualitative data analysis will be.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Qualitative Software Planning Seminar
A comparative overview of various software packages which assist in the analysis of qualitative (textual or multimedia) data and/or facilitate the analysis of mixed methods projects.
10.30am - 3.00pm, Room 2.40, Manchester Business School, Booth Street West
A NCRM-funded event jointly organised by methods@manchester and Qualitative Innovations in CAQDAS (QUIC)
Speaker: Christina Silver
Choosing the appropriate analysis software package is an important part of planning any qualitative or mixed method research project. There are a range of options available, but it is not always easy to visualise exactly what a package offers when exploring it for the first time yourself. Equally when asking someone else for their opinion, it is not always easy to know what questions you should be asking. Most of the software packages, which help the researcher to manage qualitative data, are excellent products in one way or several!
Tuesday 7 February 2012
British Library social science datasets programme
A workshop by John Kaye, Lead Curator e Social Sciences
Room O.1.6, Dover Street Building, University of Manchester
This workshop will introduce researchers to the British Library’s dataset programme and provide an overview of dataset activities within Social Sciences subject areas. It will show researchers current and planned services the Library is offering to connect researchers with data. It will explore the importance of high quality research data in social science disciplines and through examples it will look at where data fits in the research workflow. It will also look at some tools to carry out data analysis from Online Analysis and Visualization to Geographic Information Systems
18, 19 & 20 January 2012
Generalized Linear Models: a basic statistics courseBasement computer lab, Humanities Bridgeford Street building, University of Manchester
This 3-day course introduces generalized linear models and shows how they can be applied to numeric and categorical data. The course makes use of the open-source R statistical environment that is accessed through the Rcommander (Rcmdr) graphical interface (this software can be installed on any platform - Unix, linux, MacOS and Windows).
14 December 2011
Researching the city
12.30 - 4.00, Room 1.69/1.70, Humanities Bridgeford Street, University of Manchester
A workshop jointly organised by cities@manchester and methods@manchester. This half-day workshop will explore a number of different methods for researching the contemporary city. Four staff will talk about their own research and the methods they have used. The emphasis will be on staff explaining why they choose to use a certain method and how it squares with the issues they research and the approaches they use. The workshop should be of interest to all graduate students either undertaking, or planning, research in cities.
7 December 2011
Researching Children workshop
12.30 - 4.30, Room 2.219, University Place, University of Manchester
This half-day workshop will consider some of the methodological and ethical issues involved when researching children.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
A talk and workshop on Timescapes - a qualitative longitudinal study
12.30 - 4.00, Room G.030/031, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester
Timescapes is an ESRC-funded qualitative longitudinal study which explores how personal and family relationships develop and change over time. Its focus is on relationships with significant others: parents, grandparents, siblings, children, partners, friends and lovers, using the method of 'walking alongside' people to document their changing relationships.
In depth interviews, oral narratives, photographs and other visual documents are being collected for the Timescapes archive. The archive offers exciting possibilities for re-using data for research through time and across the generations.
Monday 21 November 2011
Ethics of Internet Research: postgraduate workshop
9.30 - 5.00pm, Room 1.69/1.70, Humanities Bridgeford Street, University of Manchester
A workshop organised by Manchester Digital Media Network (MDMN) and the Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures (RICC) and sponsored by methods@manchester. Participation is free but registration is required as the number of places is limited. If you are interested in participating please contact Caitriona Devery at caitriona.devery@manchester.ac.uk
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Hands-on approaches to data gathering – an introduction to Ketso
Room 5.206, University Place, University of Manchester
Ketso is a hands-on kit for effective engagement, developed by Dr. Joanne Tippett from her research at the University of Manchester. This workshop will introduce Ketso through a series of practical exercises, and will allow participants to explore ways they could use Ketso and other participatory techniques in their research.
Monday 31 October 2011
Understanding the Research Excellence Framework
1.00 - 2.30pm, Room 3.204, University Place, University of Manchester
Dame Professor Janet Finch, University of Manchester and Chair of the main REF panel C, will provide an outline of the REF assessment framework and the outcomes of the most recent consultation exercise. Following her presentation there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
Friday 28 October 2011
Critical Reading for Self Critical Writing: Introduction to a Structured Approach for Reviewing Literature
Room 1.69/1.70, Humanities Bridgeford Street
Professor Mike Wallace and Professor Alison Wray will provide a one-day workshop at the University of Manchester.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study: Introductory workshop
10.00 - 4.30, Room 2.16/2.17 (Boardroom), Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester
A one-day workshop by Peter Shepherd to introduce two internationally-renowned birth cohort studies.
17-18 October 2011
Beyond the 'Is/Ought Divide': A two-day workshop on interdisciplinary methodology in ethics and social research
This workshop aims to consider and address questions concerning methodologies in the humanities and social sciences, with a focus on methodological issues related to interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, collaboration across disciplines, and disciplinary isolation.
There are a few places remaining for this workshop. For further information, or to express interest in attending, please email Sarah Chan (sarah.chan@manchester.ac.uk).
Friday 7 October 2011
Deciphering 'Voice' from 'Words': Interpreting Translation Practices in the Field
1.00 - 2.30pm, Room G35/36, Arthur Lewis Building
A workshop organised by Lisa Ficklin and Briony Jones. Lisa and Briony will be presenting their work on the use of interpreters in sensitive overseas field contexts. With insights drawn from experiences in Nicaragua and Bosnia-Herzegovina they will discuss positionality, qualitative interviews, ethics, and fieldwork practice. Their work seeks to move beyond a formulaic approach to research methods and to unpack how researchers respond to the interpreted interview, understood as an encounter fully embedded in the practices and experiences of the field outside the linguistic act of translation. It is intended that their presentation will provide a starting point for a broader discussion on the use of interpreters in fieldwork contexts and the implications for methodology, ethics and analysis.
Lisa Ficklin is a PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, and is in the final stages of her research on political ecology, neoliberalisations of nature and disaster capitalism in Nicaragua. Briony Jones is a Research Fellow in dealing with the past at Swisspeace and specialises in reconciliation, citizenship and political community in post-war societies. Lisa and Briony can be contacted via email before the workshop with any queries: lisa.ficklin@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; briony.jones@swisspeace.ch.
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Methods Fair 2011
9.30 - 5.30, Roscoe Building, University of Manchester
The 2011 Methods Fair was a great success. Videos of the day, a summary of the Ketso workshop outcomes and slides are now available.
Wednesday 27 July 2011
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES for Research methods
2 - 4.30pm, Room B3.1, Ellen Wilkinson Building
Have you ever tried to access resources about research methods for your own research or for teaching/training purposes?
The Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics (C-SAP) is in the early stages of developing a website that will make it easier to find good quality Open Educational Resources for research methods in the social sciences and would like to get feedback on the project so far. We are looking for 6 - 8 PGR students or staff to join us for a user testing session hosted by methods@manchester. If you would like to take part please complete the booking form above.
Measurement and Modelling
There will be various presentations from different areas (mainly education), providing an introduction to modelling and measurement issues, particularly the Rasch Model.
Third Experiments Research Networks Seminar
This is the third seminar of the University of Manchester Experiments Research Network, which aims to promote collaboration on experimental research and exchange methodological expertise. It is funded by methods@manchester.
Estimating and Measuring the effects of Inequality
There have been strong debates over whether living in more unequal societies results in a range of social problems. This methods@manchester event includes a selection of presentations on the impact of inequality. It includes presentations on education, ethnicity and from the authors of the Spirit Level which suggests that social problems are worse among the vast majority of the population in more unequal societies - not just among the poor. The presentations will be followed by an open discussion.
Voters in Social and Political Context
A Democracy, Citizens and Elections Research Network (DCERN) Symposium, organised in association with methods@manchester.
Critical Reading for Self Critical Writing: Introduction to a Structured Approach for Reviewing Literature
Professor Mike Wallace and Professor Alison Wray will provide a one-day workshop at the University of Manchester for up to 30 people. Those who attend will receive a free copy of their much acclaimed book Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates, published by Sage and now in its second edition. The book shows students how to read critically and how to write using critical techniques. There also on-line examples of critical analyses, including the journal articles on which they are based, and accompanying commentaries and exercises.
Workshop participants will be asked to choose an academic journal article reporting research that they want to engage with critically and read it thoroughly in advance. During the workshop, participants will have enough time to try out for themselves, progressively, the key components of the structured approach advocated by Wallace and Wray - who will both be on hand to give individual support with queries while participants are trying out the various analyses.
The book provides a very comprehensive backup to all the material covered in the workshop and participants can refer to it, afterwards, for further guidance when consolidating their learning.
Research Ethics and the University's Research Ethics Committee
Dr Maria Nedeva, MBS
Maria Nedeva will be discussing the overarching aims of the University Ethics Committee, how to approach preparing an application, what the committee is looking for and how to deal with responses from the committee. All are welcome., no booking required.
Using Ethnographic Methods Workshop
The workshop will be delivered through students working intensively together on fictional case-studies that are developed from original conception to final completion throughout the course of the day. The case studies will include:
Monitoring and Evaluation in rural development.
Product Development.
Hard to Reach Users in drug addiction services.
Cultural Heritage in the Tourism Industry
Sessions will be run by a mixture of academic practitioners and professionals using anthropological methods in a variety of applied settings.
Monday 4 April 2011
Are national statistics on subjective well-being valid and reliable?
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and methods@manchester held a debate on “Are national statistics on subjective well-being valid and reliable?” at the University of Manchester. This supports the national debate on measuring national well-being.
Experiments Research Network Second Seminar
This is the second seminar of the University of Manchester Experiments Research Network, which aims to promote collaboration on experimental research and exchange methodological expertise. It is funded by methods@manchester.
Qualitative Innovations in CAQDAS (QUIC) events
Friday 25 March 2011
NVivo version 8 Introductory one-day hands-on workshop
Presenter: Christine Rivers
Thursday 24 March 2011
Qualitative Data Analysis Software
A comparative overview of various software packages which assist in the analysis of qualitative (textual or multimedia) data.
Speaker: Christine Rivers
Institute for Cultural Practice and methods@manchester Professional Practice workshop
You’re having a laugh? Using comedy for communicating your research
Bright Club
In this hands-on, practical workshop, learn how to organise, lateralise and present research findings in new ways to engage new audiences (without sending them to sleep).
Manchester Digital Media Network (MDMN) Workshop on method(s): challenges of online research
Institute for Cultural Practice and methods@manchester Professional Practice workshop
Using social media tools for marketing and engagement
Claire Wills, Contact Theatre
Arts marketing and audience development approaches are increasingly using Twitter, Foursquare and other social media. In this workshop learn how to incorporate them into research dissemination and communications strategies and how to measure their impact.
Tuesday 22 February 2011, 1.00 - 2.30pm
Longitudinal resources for researching ethnicity: Understanding Society and the Millennium Cohort Study
Professor Lucinda Platt, University of Essex
Professor Lucinda Platt, director of the Millennium Cohort Study at the Institute of Education and director of the ethnicity strand of Understanding Society will talk about the research opportunities presented by these two major resources. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Methodological perspectives on causality from different disciplines
12.00 – 4.00pm, Room 1.69/1.70, 1st floor, Humanities Bridgeford Street
A half day workshop organised by methods@manchester and the Causal Analysis Group.
The objective of the workshop is to bring together researchers working on causality with a disciplinary focus, to learn about methods of causality from a different discipline. The intended audience includes postgraduate students and early career researchers from different disciplines but all researchers are invited. The speakers will present a methodological overview of their specific causal approach, using appropriate examples, in a lay person's language. There are only 50 places available so please book early.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Institute for Cultural Practice and methods@manchester Professional Practice workshop
Reflective practice online: logging, blogging and cataloguing
Emily Bannister, Faculty of Humanities Administration
4 - 6pm, Room 4.10, Mansfield Cooper Building
Tips and advice on how to use online and social media tools for bookmarking, information retrieval, management and research.
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Introduction to Qualitative Coding Software
Wendy Olsen, CCSR, University of Manchester
2.00 - 4.30pm, Room 1.69/1.70, 1st floor, Humanities Bridgeford Street
The use of NVIVO or other software is a matter of managing complexity, so small projects may need less computer-based support. I start off with giving my view about ‘how small is small’ (e.g. 6 interviews). The sophistication can increase considerably when NVIVO or spreadsheets are used to analyse data, e.g. for 40 interviews. I demonstrate some NVIVO activities such as browsing and coding.
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Experiments Research Network Launch Seminar
12noon - 5pm, Hanson Room, Ground Floor, Humanities Bridgeford Street, University of Manchester
More details
This is the launch seminar of the University of Manchester Experiments Research Network, which aims to promote collaboration on experimental research and exchange methodological expertise. It is funded by methods@manchester.
Anyone is welcome to join the Experiments Research Network listserv by emailing Charlotte Jackson.
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Cross-national comparisons and the European Social Survey
Jaak Billiet, emeritus chair at the Catholic University of Leuven
2.00 - 4.30pm, Room 3.214, University Place, University of Manchester
This two-part workshop will be of great value to all researchers who are using, or planning to use, cross-national comparative survey analysis. It is also important for anyone teaching survey methods or cross-national comparative methods.
Ethical Concerns for Conducting Sensitive Interviews
1 - 3pm, Room G30/31, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester
Researchers and practitioners often interview vulnerable people or individuals on sensitive issues. As the person conducting the interview, one needs to be aware of power imbalances, ethical issues regarding confidentiality, safety, and respect, as well as how to conduct the interview--finding the balance between guiding the interview and allowing the interviewee to 'own' their specific experience and the telling of it. Tammy Krause will give a short presentation and then lead a wider discussion on this topic.
Tammy Krause is with the School of Law and has extensive experience working with people on both sides of the law. She has worked with crack-addicted prostitutes, individuals who have experienced clinical negligence, family members of homicide victims as well as those accused of committing the murder. Each work environment required Krause to understand the complexity of building trust, being comfortable with strong emotions and conflict while still guiding the conversation professionally.
Krause has written about her work with murder victim families in several edited books:
- Finding Light in Broken Hope in MUTUAL TREASURE;
- Reaching Out to the Other Side: Defense-based victim outreach in capital cases in WOUNDS THAT DO NOT BIND: VICTIM-BASED PERSPECTIVES ON THE DEATH PENALTY;
- Murder, Mourning, and the Ideal of Reconciliation in ROADS TO RECONCILIATION: CROSS-DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO CONFLICT IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.
Monday 6 December
Research Computing Support for the University of Manchester
1 - 2pm, Room G30/31, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester
This talk will outline the available support for research computing: optimising and parallelising computer models, visualisation, and supporting access to (inter)national high end computing facilities. Typical examples and case studies will be presenting illustrating, for example, how ITS has helped reduced the time to run computer models from years to hours.
Research Computing Services offers a range of courses to postgraduates and staff that will improve your skills in all aspects of Research Computing including programming, high end computing and visualization.
Monday 29 November
Monday 6 December
An introduction to online resources for the analysis of qualitative data
Graham Gibbs, University of Huddersfield
This workshop will discuss resources aimed at helping researchers find their way around the range of different software packages for qualitative analysis.
Graham Gibbs directs the REQUALLO project at the University of Huddersfield and is an E-Learning Consultant to QUIC - The CAQDAS networking project at the University of Surrey
17 November
A talk and workshop on Timescapes - a qualitative longitudinal study
Timescapes is an ESRC-funded qualitative longitudinal study which explores how personal and family relationships develop and change over time. Its focus is on relationships with significant others: parents, grandparents, siblings, children, partners, friends and lovers, using the method of 'walking alongside' people to document their changing relationships.
In depth interviews, oral narratives, photographs and other visual documents are being collected for the Timescapes archive. The archive offers exciting possibilities for re-using data for research through time and across the generations.
Thursday 11 November 2010
Working with International Development Data
2.30 - 4.30pm, Room 2.7, 2nd floor, Humanities Bridgeford Street
A talk by Eric Swanson, DEC Development Data Group, World Bank
The World Bank's World Development Indicators is a comprehensive source of data of economic, social, and environmental indicators. The database is compiled from many sources, each having its particular sources in the work of international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and national statistical offices. In progressing from the original source to the WDI database, data are standardized and revised to improve comparability over time and between countries. Working with these data and with data from other sources, it is useful to understand something of their lineage.
Eric Swanson, previously program manager for Global Monitoring and now advisor to the director of the Development Data Group at the World Bank will discuss the sources and methods used to compile the WDI and other databases maintained by the World Bank. Dr. Swanson is an economist who has spent his career collecting, analyzing, and publishing data on developing countries.
Access the World Bank's databases, now available free to all users.
Multilevel modelling day
10.00 - 4.30, Room 3.204, University Place, University of Manchester
This day brings together a range of multilevel modelling applications across the University of Manchester. The aim of the day is to discuss the different methodological approaches used in their substantive context. The day should be of interest to all those who are using, or planning to use multilevel modelling in their research. We will also be signposting the resources available at the Multilevel Modelling centre, University of Bristol.
A workshop on formulating a research strategy and choosing appropriate design and statistical tools
Simon French of the Manchester Business School will provide an introductory workshop to help new researchers plan their project.
The workshop will outline a framework for research planning, the setting of research questions and the methods by which we should address these. The framework allows one to think about how one interprets statistical methods, when one can look to confirmatory approaches and when one should be content with more exploratory statistics. It will also include some other 'problem structuring' tools from operational research and management that help one explore and represent the issues in ways that act as an aide memoire during the conduct of the research and also help communicate the background.
Friday 8 October 2010
A one-day workshop on the British Cohort Studies
A one-day workshop to introduce three internationally-renowned birth cohort studies: the 1958 National Child Development Study, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study.
Go to Our Changing Lives gateway to see how the cohort studies have been used to explore how our careers, health, well being and personal relationships are forged from childhood, through working life to retirement.
Wednesday 29 September 2010, 9.30 - 5.00
MANDEC Manchester Dental Education Centre and Humanities Bridgeford Street.
The Methods Fair was a great success with 180 participants.
Slides from most of the persentations are now available from the event web pages.
Find out who won the poster competition and who the exhibitors were.
Photos of the event will be available soon.
Life Journey: ethnographic methods that merge art and collaborative anthropology in pursuit of a better understanding of disease, death and dying
Andrew Irving, Anthropology
Thursday 16 September 2010, 1.00 - 4.00 (lunch from 12.30)
Room G.30/31, Arthur Lewis Building
This workshop will explore a range of methodological approaches to social life that merge ethnography, art and collaborative research methods—principally in relation to experiences of illness, crisis and displacement but with wider applications elsewhere—in order to gain a better understanding of the interior dialogues and imaginative lifeworlds that constitute people’s experiences of disease, death and dying. The aim is to think of ways of capturing the often unvoiced but sometimes radical changes in being, belief and perception that can occur while carrying out everyday, routine activities. For example, changes in identity and body image; changes in people’s aesthetic appreciation of time and existence; changes in pre-existing practices and religious beliefs; changes in the type of imaginary worlds people inhabit in relation to material surroundings; and changes in the character and meaning of everyday social roles and interactions while experiencing decline, entering a new existential territory or attempting to reclaim life.
The capacity for a rich, multifaceted, imaginative inner life—encompassing inner speech, unarticulated moods and emotions, random urges, unfinished thoughts, self doubt and much else besides—is an essential feature of human experience, including illness, nevertheless social science finds itself without a generally accepted theory of how interiority relates to public expression nor an established methodology for accessing interior expression. As conventional social scientific methods and approaches are often too static to understand or fully represent the fluidity of perception, being and expression especially among those living with uncertainty, I argue that the issue of interiority is best addressed as a collaborative, practice-based research question to be worked upon alongside informants in the field and through the use of shared, mutually defined research goals. This not only provides an ethical, empowering and socially inclusive way of researching difficult but important topics but also provides empirical data for investigation and analysis that helps ensure that research is not conducted at levels of theoretical and discursive abstraction remote from people’s lives and concerns.
Denim workshop: interdisciplinary methods for exploring Narratives and Materiality
Monday 13 September 2010, 11:30 – 4.00
Council Chamber, Sackville Street, University of Manchester
The proliferation of research into materiality and material culture within the social sciences raises interesting questions about methods, as word based approaches (such as interviews) on their own come to seem increasingly limited. This one day workshop aims to take up some of these challenges, and rather than offer any straightforward answers, to create a dialogue around different approaches to the materiality of clothing. It arises out of a collaborative project between the School of Materials and Sociology (funded by methods@manchester). Taking the particular example of ‘old jeans’ (that is, pairs of jeans people are about to throw out), the discussion of methods will focus in particular upon how to understand the material narratives of the clothing. Denim jeans are a particularly pertinent example to explore questions of materiality, as much of the relationship we have to clothing is embodied, sensual and materialised, rather than necessarily being verbalised.
The methods that will be brought into dialogue in the workshop are:
1. Social science approaches (life history interviews, material and object based interviews), with those employed in textile technology and colour chemistry (the properties of dyes, fibres, how they are woven).
2. Design (remaking of new garments from old jeans) to explore the possibility of design as a methodology as the narrative of objects is extended. This will be seen in relation to presentations by second hand clothing recyclers to explore how value and ‘use’ are reassessed and how ‘touch’ and material properties are differently assessed in the sorting process.
Programme
11.30 – 1pm
A dialogue between social science approaches and textile technology and colour chemistry methods.
Interdisciplinary methods for exploring Narratives and Materiality
Dr Sophie Woodward (Sociology, University of Manchester) will introduce the project and outline the possibilities of social science research into materiality, by introducing the object interviews carried out on ‘old jeans’.
Prof Chris Carr (Materials, University of Manchester) will outline the approaches taken within the School of Materials (including tests that can explore the constitution and properties of fabrics) to understand denim.
1-2pm lunch
2- 4pm
Extending the objects narrative and biography: practice and design as material methods.
Ross Barry of LMB (textile recyclers) will outline how the use and value of old clothing is reassessed in the context of a textile recyclers, raising issue about how material properties are differently, and similarly assessed in the sorting process.
Dr Karen Dennis (University of Huddersfield) ‘To throw or not to throw - Recycling dilemmas explored’ will be a hands on session which will explore the possibilities and limitations in reconstructing and remaking from old discarded jeans.
Promoting methodological innovation and capacity building in research on ethnicity
SEMINAR 3: Research methods for new immigrant groups
Friday 10 September 2010, 10.00 - 4.30
Hanson Room, Humanities Bridgeford Street, University of Manchester
Many UK surveys of ethnic minorities target the largest and most established ethnic groups. In part this is because of the methodological difficulties of collecting reliable information on new migrants, which include not just small numbers but the status of some migrants (eg asylum seekers; illegal immigrants), language difficulties and the fluidity of the populations. However, these groups often have the greatest need for support services. Small scale local studies may offer innovative solutions to identifying these ‘hard to reach’ groups.
Promoting methodological innovation and capacity building in research on ethnicity
SEMINAR 2: Methods to assess and understand the role of context in ethnic inequalities
Tuesday 29 June 2010, 10.00-4.30
Royal Statistical Society, Errol Street, London, EC1Y 8LX
Neighbourhood or area is an important concept in research in the area of ethnicity, in part because minority ethnic groups tend to be heavily concentrated in particular geographical areas. How do we unpack the role of ‘area’ in explaining ethnic inequalities? for example, does ethnic concentration, itself, play a significant impact or is it simply a proxy for the level of deprivation in the area? What is the role of peer groups and friendship networks and what methods are available to asses them?
methods@manchester Summer Event
Thursday 10 June 2010, 3 - 5pm
Foyer, Humanities Bridgeford Street
An informal event with drinks and light refreshments.
Using laddering methods reveal relationships and values
Thorsten Gruber, Manchester Business School
Wednesday 26 May 2010, 1 - 2pm
Humanities Bridgeford Street, 1.69/1.70
Laddering is a well established research technique in the social sciences that provides rich data unlocking means-end considerations otherwise hidden from quantitative research. Laddering techniques reveal the relationships that exist between the attributes of individuals, objects or services (i.e. means), the consequences these attributes represent for the respondent (e.g. a patient, a customer), and the values or beliefs that are strengthened or satisfied by the consequences (i.e. ends).
PhD Quantitative Methods Workshop
Monday 24 May 2010
Humanities Bridgeford Street, 1.69/1.70
You are invited to attend the first Quantitative Methods Workshop, an informal day of presentations by PhD students, organised by CCSR and in collaboration with the methods@manchester programme.
Promoting methodological innovation and capacity building in research on ethnicity
SEMINAR 1: What is ethnicity? What methods best capture it?
Friday 14 May 2010, 10.00-4.30
Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
Ethnicity and ethnic group measures are commonly used in socio-economic research with an implicit understanding that these represent some common underlying concept understood and accepted by all researchers. In this workshop, we will question that assumption and ask: what is it that we are trying to measure and why? Is ethnicity rather a proxy for something else? Do the ethnic group categories commonly used serve their purpose or are we grouping people into categories that are not meaningful, or that do not reflect how people see themselves? We also ask: when can ethnicity legitimately be ignored? And what are the politics of measurement and of the construction of particular categories?
Using History to Make Sense of the Present: Methodological Challenges
Leif Jerram, History, University of Manchester
Wednesday 5 May 2010, 1 - 2pm
Room G.030/031, Arthur Lewis Building
Historical thinking abounds, both inside and outside the academy, but often bypasses academic history entirely. This seminar explores some of the problems that this can pose scholars, as well as policy makers, and suggests some of the reasons why academic historians have struggled to be relevant in these contexts. I will highlight some intellectually catastrophic effects this can have on policy discourses; and explore how social scientists might approach academic history to enlarge their evidence bases and critical frameworks.
An Unfortunate Incident: a performance lecture on the Bindunuwewa massacre
Wednesday 10 March 2010, 5 - 6pm
John Thaw Studio, Martin Harris Centre
methods@manchester is delighted to jointly host this performance lecture by Professor James Thompson, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures. The performance will run for about 40 minutes and there will be plenty of time after the performance to explore this mode of research dissemination. We hope that this will be of particular interest to social scientists who want to learn more about how drama can be used to convey research.
Exploring issues around consumption: transaction data and panel data
Tuesday 16 February 2010
Room 2.7, HBS
A meeting to explore methodological issues around using longitudinal transaction data - and complex data more generally - in the framework of consumption.
Monday 8 February 2010, 10am - 4pm
Room 1.69/1.70, Humanities Bridgeford Street Building
This day was organised jointly with The Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis. It brought together research on social networks based in Manchester.
Triangulation of methods and reflexivity in the research process
Professor Udo Kelle, University of Marburg
11 November 2009, 1-3pm
Hanson Room, Ground Floor, Humanities Bridgeford Street
This presentation reflected on the relation between reflexivity and triangulation in the research process. Following the presentation discussion was opened up more widely.