Talks and workshops
methods@manchester hosts a variety of talks and workshops.
methods@manchester offer a range 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 during term time.
Upcoming Events
Making (slowly) as method: stitching together a patchwork ethnography of natural textile dyeing
Dr Laura Pottinger, 12pm-1pm, Thursday 1 October 2026
This Methods North West Lunchtime Seminar draws on emerging ideas about ‘patchwork ethnography’, an approach mobilising the often multi-sited, fragmented, non-linear character of ethnographic research in practice.
Studying “Hard Working Students”: Reflections on process
Manchester Institute of Education with Methods@Manchester welcomes Professor Alison Taylor, University of British Columbia
Wednesday 7 October 2026 – Ellen Wilkinson Building (room tbc) 14:00-16:00 (on campus only)
In this presentation, Alison Taylor will reflect on a recent study she led about the experiences of undergraduate students with term-time work.
The Hard Working Student was a qualitatively driven, mixed-methodology study in Canada. Following an institutional survey, 57 working undergraduates at a research-intensive university were engaged in multi-modal data collection activities over the span of their degrees. The study culminated in Taylor’s 2025 book “Juggling rhythms: Working student life in the 21st century.”
This presentation draws on data from students to illustrate and reflect on decisions made in the study and book, including the use of qualitative longitudinal data, visual data, metaphor analysis, and narrative portraits. These decisions resonate with broader conversations in social sciences about connections between theory and methodology, researcher-subject relationships, researcher positionally and ethics, and rigor and generalizability.
Open to all UoM staff and PGRs.
Any questions or queries, please contact Kirsty Finn kirsty.finn@manchester.ac.uk
Action-guiding for whom? Social movements and political theory of migration
Dr Clara Sandelind, 12pm - 1pm Thursday 22 October 2026
In this Methods North West Lunchtime Seminar, attendees will be introduced to grounded normative theory and consider how empirical engagement with social movements can inform normative political theorising.
Collaboration, Creativity, and the Ethics of Care: Engaging arts-based methods to explore everyday inequalities
Dr Wren Radford, 12pm - 1pm Thursday 28 January 2027
This Methods North West Lunchtime Seminar will talk through the creative arts-based and collaborative approaches used in the Embodied Everyday project, showcasing how ethical, practical, and creative elements work through each stage of the research process, from collaborative research design, through group workshops, and preparation of creative outputs.
Viral Memories: Understanding Gay Men’s Experiences of HIV and COVID-19 in the UK
Dr Sophie Atherton, 12pm - 1pm Thursday 18 February 2027
This Methods North West Lunch Time Seminar will explore the methodology and methods used in more depth by discussing some of the benefits and limitations of conducting online semi-structured interviews.
Getting to know the unemployed: insights from 12 months of ethnographic research among Manchester’s Jobseekers
Dr John Foster, 12pm - 1pm Thursday 6 May 2027
In this Methods North West Lunchtime Seminar, attendees will explore the challenges and benefits of immersive longitudinal research into social life alongside the personal challenges of the ethnographer in faithfully representing what they have experienced.