Seminars and Workshops
Methods@Manchester hosts a variety of talks, seminars and workshops. Our Methods Masterclasses are a series of workshops which offer in-depth training in particular research methods, or discussion around cutting-edge issues related to research methods. We also partner with Methods North West to offer a range of online seminars - these run in a regular slot on Thursdays 12-1pm.
Upcoming Events 2024/25
Using MAXQDA for Qualitative Analysis
With Dr Marianna Rolbina
Friday, 17 May 2024
This masterclass was ran in collaboration with the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR).
Researching Multilingually and Translation as Method
With Dr Anna Strowe, Dr Rebecca Tipton, Dr Leonie Gaiser, and Dr Richard Fay
Thursday, 9 May 2024
This masterclass was ran in collaboration with the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies & Manchester Institute of Education.
A single scene: Using smartphone cameras in ethnographic research
With Dr Angela Torresan
Thursday, 15 February 2024, 2-5pm
This masterclass was ran in collaboration with the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and EASA Visual Anthropology Network and features
Empowering change: Harnessing qualitative data for impactful project evaluation for impactful charitable work
With Dr Amir Raki, Dr Ilma Chowdhury and Prof Judy Zolkiewski
Friday, 2 February 2024, 2-4pm
This masterclass was ran in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Third Sector Research Network
Oral histories and futures
With Dr Liz Ackerley, Dr Santiago Levya del Rio & Dr Laura Fenton
This masterclass is being run in collaboration with The Morgan Centre
Tuesday, 12 December 2023, 2-4pm
Co-producing urban research: Sharing methods and experiences
A collaboration between the Manchester Urban Institute and the Global Development Institute
Panel discussion:
- Diana Mitlin (Chair), Global Development Institute, University of Manchester
- Victoria Beard, Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities
- Tine Buffel, Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group, University of Manchester
- James Evans, Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester
- Shuaib Lwasa, International Institute for Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Wednesday, 6 December 2023, 1.30-2.30pm
Considering Collaboration: Lessons from the ‘Pathways to Work for Muslim Women’ project
With Dr Asma Khan (Cardiff University)
Thursday, 13 June, 2-4pm
This online Methods North West seminar aimed to explore the presenter’s experiences of working collaboratively with third-sector organisations to create impact from academic research projects. Dr Asma Khan focused on a project in which she co-designed a workshop programme to encourage and motivate those Muslim women who want to join, or re-join, the labour market. The session will include reflections on the benefits and challenges of co-production in ways that will benefit other researchers who are thinking ahead to developing collaborative impact and engagement activities with third-sector organisations.
Creative Academic Writing with Helen Kara - A Taster
With Dr Helen Kara
Thursday, 2 May, 2-4pm
This online Methods North West seminar demonstrated that there is great scope for creativity in academic writing across all disciplines. It highlighted some of the options and gave attendees a chance to try a couple of them for themselves. The aim was to prove that writing creatively is more fun for the writer and produces more engaging text for the reader.
The ‘researched’ as bearers of knowledge: breaking the barriers of colonial practices in ethnography
With Leah Koumentaki (Keele University)
Thursday, 18 April, 2-4pm
This online Methods North West seminar aims to illustrate how the cultural temperament of the locals and the cultural norms within the research area positively affect the shaping of data collection methods and research approaches. It is concluded that in a local cultural context such as Mountain Crete, ‘living ethnography’ instead of simply ‘doing ethnography’ was a culturally appropriate approach for conducting ethical research and collecting raw evidence for understanding the local population and the reasons why they prefer their customary systems to justice with how they employ a restorative way of correcting a wrong.
Mixed methods and creative approaches for migration research
With Abril Rios Rivera
Thursday, 4 April, 2-4pm
Mixed methods that integrate participatory and creative techniques have a tremendous potential to help create spaces where research collaborators have control over their stories and research outcomes. Nevertheless, they also have huge ethical and cost implications. This seminar presented the methodological approach used to explore processes of decision making and empowerment among women and gender-diverse survival migrants in three Mexican cities. This research methodology used photovoice, surveys, life-story interviews, and sustained social media contact with research collaborators. Participants were approached by engaging with 10 civil society organisations which involved complex power dynamics that were discussed in the seminar.
Researching Diverse Economies
With Peter North (University of Liverpool)
Thursday, 21 March, 2-4pm
This session explored the diverse economies approach developed by geographers JK Gibson-Graham and the Community Economies Institute. It examined non-capitalocentric and reparative epistemologies, how to read for difference and hopefulness rather than domination and closure, and an engagement with some of the research undertaken in this spirit before a discussion of how participants might use these approaches in their own research.
Ethnographic and interpretive approaches to street-level bureaucracy
With Mike Rowe (University of Liverpool)
Thursday, 14 March, 2-4pm
We see public policy the wrong way up. At least, that is the perspective developed in Michael Lipsky’s (1980) idea of street-level bureaucracy. Instead of puzzling at repeated public policy implementation failures and wondering why street-level bureaucrats don’t behave the way policy-makers expect, we need to understand the world as seen from the ground. Every effort to alter the way those street-level bureaucrats act affects the ways they respond to dilemmas and throws up further sets of questions and uncertainties. This session explored what this understanding means for research. Fundamentally, it demands we adopt an interpretive and ethnographic approach.
Ethnographic and interpretive approaches to street-level bureaucracy
With Prof. Helen Beckett (University of Central Lancashire)
Thursday, 1 Feburary, 2-4pm
This session shared the trauma-informed approach to research that the presenter and her colleagues have developed over 15 years of engaging children and young people in research about sexual abuse. It outlined the key principles of trauma-informed practice, exploring what this means within a research environment. The session included practical examples of the ways in which trauma-informed principles can be designed into your research plans, from minor tweaks to consent processes to responding to participant distress.
How to design and run a citizens’ jury
With Dr. Malcolm Oswald
Thursday, 30 November, 2-4pm
Citizens’ juries are a form of deliberative democracy, designed to enable an informed cross-section of the public to contribute to public policymaking. During this presentation, Malcolm addressed the following questions:
• What is a citizens’ jury?
• Why run citizens’ juries?
• How can a citizens’ jury be designed and run?
• What are the main critiques of citizens’ juries?
• Are they an appropriate method for research?
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The ATTUNE Project: Adverse Child Experiences in Adolescent Mental Health Email Campaign
With Dr Isabelle Butcher and Harsimran Sansoy, University of Oxford
Thursday, 21 November 2024
ATTUNE is a UKRI funded and NIHR supported project exploring the lived experiences of young people (aged 10-24 years) in England who may have experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Within this project, we aim to answer two overarching questions:
- How do ACEs impact young people's mental health and lives, considering psychological, geographical, social, and economic factors?
- Can creative and participatory arts methods help us gather new insights to better understand ACEs and develop prevention and care strategies?
Our innovative approach uses various creative methods, such as art, storytelling, and digital games, to engage young people.
Reimagining meanings: co-curatorship and decolonizing methods
With Njabulo Chipangura, Manchester Museum’s Curator of Living Cultures
Thursday, 7 November 2024
This workshop is being run in collaboration with the Manchester Museum, as part of the 2024 Being Human Festival. This is a closed session open to local African diaspora community groups upon invitation.
What's In Your Wardrobe? Telling & Sharing Clothing Stories
With Jolene Sheehan (Joy Ethic), Sophie Woodward (University of Manchester), and Benjamin Wild (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Saturday, 16 November 2024
This workshop is being run in collaboration with Joy Ethic, as part of the 2024 Being Human Festival. This session invites you to bring along items of clothing and share their stories.