Research methods

 

Current projects

Corporate parenting: making a difference?

 

Completed projects

Area variations in the take-up of means-tested benefits/tax credits

Conversation analysis study of work-focused interviews

Developing a local index of child well-being

Employers’ recruitment decisions: small and medium sized enterprises

How to measure extreme poverty in the European Union

Interactions between advisers and younger and older benefits claimants during work focused interviews

The ‘Life in Paediatric Oncology Project’ (LIPOP): Development and validation of a measure of work-related stressors and rewards

Mode effects in qualitative interviews: a comparison of semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews using conversation analysis

Personal Social Services - surveys of user satisfaction and experience: designing new collection

Researching the lives of disabled children and young people, with a focus on their perspectives. ESRC research seminar series

Secondary analysis of qualitative data: a literature review

Verbatim quotations in applied social research

 

Methods papers 2004 onwards

As well as undertaking projects whose main focus is the development of new methods or ways of conducting research, we often develop innovative methods during our other research projects as we strive to capture the views of our research participants. Below are some of the papers that have arisen from various research projects that did not have a main focus on methods but provided stimulus for new thinking about them:

Arksey, H., Jackson, K., Mason, A., Wallace, A., Weatherly, H. (2004) Support services for carers: methodological issues in evaluating the literature, Research Works, 2004-03, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York.

Attar, S., Parker, G. and Wade, J. (2007) The potential of secondary data sources to explore the life chances of looked-after children in the care system in the UK, Journal of Children's Services, 2, 2, 39-47.

Beresford, B., Tozer, R., Rabiee, P. and Sloper, P. (2004) Developing an approach to involving children with autistic spectrum disorders in a social care research project, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32, 4, 180-185.

Bradshaw, J. (2003) Review for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit of the Blueprint for the Index of Multiple Deprivation - at small area level, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London.

Bradshaw, J. (2007) Some problems in the international comparison of child income poverty in H. Wintersberger, et al. (eds.) Childhood, Generational Order and the Welfare State: Exploring children's social and economic welfare, University Press of Southern Denmark, Odense

Bradshaw, J., Hoelscher, P. and Richardson, D. (2007) Comparing Child Well-being in OECD Countries: Concepts and methods, Innocenti Working Paper, IWP-2006-03, Unicef Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, Italy.

Corden, A. and Hirst, M. (2008) Implementing a mixed methods approach to explore the financial implications of death of a life partner, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2, 3, 208-220.

Corden, A., Sainsbury, R., Sloper, P. and Ward, B. (2005) Using a model of group psychotherapy to support social research on sensitive topics, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8, 2, 151-60.

Harris, J. (2002) The correspondence method as a data-gathering technique in qualitative enquiry, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1, 4, Article 1.

Harris, J. and Roberts, K. (2003) Challenging barriers to participation in qualitative research: involving disabled refugees, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2, 2, Article 2 .

Lister, S., Mitchell, W., Sloper, P. and Roberts, K. (2003) Participation and partnerships in research: listening to the ideas and experiences of a parent-carer, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 6, 2, 159-166.

Mitchell, W. (2010) 'I know how I feel': listening to young people with life-limiting conditions who have learning and communication impairments, Qualitative Social Work, 9, 2, 185-203.

Mitchell, W. and Irvine, A. (2008) I'm okay, you're okay?: Reflections on the well-being and ethical requirements of researchers and research participants in conducting qualitative fieldwork interviews, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7, 4, 31-44.

Mitchell, W. and Sloper, P. (in press) Making choices in my life: listening to the ideas and experiences of young people in the UK who communicate non-verbally, Children and Youth Services Review, (Available online from 2 June 2010).

Morgan, H. and Harris, J. ( 2005) Strategies for involving service users in outcomes focused research in L. Lowes and I. Hulat (eds.) Involving Service Users in Health and Social Care Research, Routledge, London, pp. 163-70.

Rabiee, P., Sloper, P. and Beresford, B. (2005) Doing research with children and young people who do not use speech for communication, Children & Society, 19, 5, 385-96.

Stein, M. and Munro. E ( 2008) The transition to adulthood for young people leaving public care: developing an international research group and the challenges of comparative work in C. Canali, T. Vecciato and J. Whittaker (eds.) Assessing the Evidence-base of Interventions for Vulnerable Children and their Families, Fondazione Emmanuela Zancan, Padova, Italy, pp. 177-179.