Social Research Methods

Phil Jones discusses his Playful Methods Lab and how creative research techniques can be used to develop new approaches to research that might help us to answer the research questions we hadn’t previously thought of.…Read more

Helen Kara, author of a number of Policy Press books, including the forthcoming second edition of Creative Research Methods, talks about the impact of lockdown and how the current situation might affect research in the future.…Read more

David Beer, Professor of Sociology at the University of York, explains how music can be the perfect motivator, and inspiration, when it comes to conducting social research, acting as a reminder that social research should be a creative endeavour.…Read more

Marian Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, University of Brighton, discusses going beyond boundaries that separate researchers from different disciplines, and boundaries that separate researchers from those they research.…Read more

Alison Gregory, Emma Williamson and Maria Barnes discuss the impacts the COVID-19 lockdown is having on domestic violence research, and the researchers themselves, and offer tips for researchers now working at home.…Read more

Kate Pahl, co-author of the upcoming book ‘Collaborative Research in Theory and Practice: The Poetics of Letting Go’, reflects on the connected communities project and some of the lessons she learned that are essential to collaborative interdisciplinary work.…Read more

Peter Beresford, author of 'Social Policy First Hand', on why the govenrnment should be paying attention to user-led and co-produced research approaches. …Read more

Tina Haux, author of 'Dimensions of Impact in the Social Sciences', discusses her concerns about the rush to research the effect of COVID-19 and how we should be working with colleagues across the disciplines to establish what we can learn from previous crisis, health and otherwise.…Read more

Kat Smith, Justyna Bandola, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer, authors of 'The Impact Agenda', examine UK efforts to incentivise and measure research impact via REF and lay out their recommendations for a new research agenda in the UK.…Read more

Sue Cohen, a long time community development worker, reflects on her time working on co-produced research projects and the different opinions often held by academics and community practitioners.…Read more