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British Social Attitudes Survey, 2023
No full textAbstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.BackgroundThe British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey series began in 1983. The series is designed to produce annual measures of attitudinal movements to complement large-scale government surveys that deal largely with facts and behaviour patterns, and the data on party political attitudes produced by opinion polls. One of the BSA's main purposes is to allow the monitoring of patterns of continuity and change, and the examination of the relative rates at which attitudes, in respect of a range of social issues, change over time. Some questions are asked regularly, others less often. Funding for BSA comes from a number of sources (including government departments, the Economic and Social Research Council and other research foundations), but the final responsibility for the coverage and wording of the annual questionnaires rests with NatCen Social Research (formerly Social and Community Planning Research). The BSA has been conducted every year since 1983, except in 1988 and 1992 when core funding was devoted to the British Election Study (BES).Further information about the series and links to publications may be found on the NatCen Social Research British Social Attitudes webpage.Background
The British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey series began in 1983. The series is designed to produce annual measures of attitudinal movements which will complement large-scale government surveys such as the General Lifestyle Survey and the Labour Force Survey, which deal largely with facts and behaviour patterns, as well as the data on party political attitudes produced by the polls. One of the BSA's main purposes is to allow the monitoring of patterns of continuity and change, and the examination of the relative rates at which attitudes, in respect of a range of social issues, change over time. Some questions are asked regularly, others less often.
Further information about the series and links to publications may be found on the NatCen Social Research British Social Attitudes website.
BSA 2023
Since 2020 BSA has operated with a push-to-web design, with telephone opt-in to cover the offline population.
The BSA 2023 report, including Key Findings, is available from the NatCen BSA website.
MAIN TOPICS
Each year the interview questionnaire contains a number of 'core' questions, which are repeated in most years. In addition, a wide range of background and classificatory questions is included. The remainder of the questionnaire is devoted to a series of questions (modules) on a range of social, economic, political and moral issues - some asked regularly, others less often. Cross-indexes of those questions asked more than once appear in the reports.
In 2023 the questionnaire included the following topics: Household Composition,
Employment, Politics, Benefits and Income, National Identity and Ethnicity, Religion, Disability, Education, Changing Identities, Role of the Government, Pensions & Retirement, Poverty, Fraud & Error, Social Class, Satisfaction with Health and Care Services, Health and Care Spending, NHS Priorities and Principles, Devolution, Electoral Voting Reform, European Union, Immigration, Equal Opportunities, Climate Change and the Environment, Housing, Building New Homes.Main Topics:Each year, the BSA interview questionnaire contains a number of 'core' questions, which are repeated in most years. In addition, a wide range of background and classificatory questions is included. The remainder of the questionnaire is devoted to a series of questions (modules) on a range of social, economic, political and moral issues - some are asked regularly, others less often. Cross-indexes of those questions asked more than once appear in the reports.Employment Politics Benefits and IncomeNational Identity and Ethnicity ReligionDisability Education Changing Identities, Role of the Government Pensions & RetirementPoverty Fraud & Error, Social Class, Satisfaction with Health and Care Services Health and Care SpendingNHS Priorities and PrinciplesDevolutionElectoral Voting Reform European UnionImmigrationEqual Opportunities Climate Change and the Environment Housing Building New Homes</ul
The Political Economies of School Exclusion and Their Consequences: Qualitative Data, 2021-2023
No full textThe main objective of this research was to develop a multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies and consequences of school exclusion across the UK through a home-international comparison.
The motivation for the study was the need to understand the great differences in the rates of permanent school exclusions and suspensions in different parts of the UK. with numbers rising rapidly in England but remaining relatively low or falling in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The research was undertaken by the multi-disciplinary (criminology, economics, education, law, psychology, psychiatry, sociology) and multi-site (the universities of Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Queen’s Belfast, and the LSE) Excluded Lives Research Team. The research was organised into two work strands: A. Landscapes of Exclusion; and B. Experiences of Exclusion. In Strand A work packages examined: the ways in which policies and legal frameworks shape interventions designed to prevent exclusions; the financial costs associated with exclusion; and patterns and characteristics of exclusion. Strand B work packages focussed on families’, pupils’ and professionals’ experiences of the risks and consequences of exclusion.
The data were collected from representative local educational authorities (4 in England, 2 in both Scotland and Wales) and across NI. Our sampling strategy for schools used modelled data, whereby we calculated the rates of exclusions for schools after controlling for pupil characteristics to estimate whether schools had above or below expected levels of exclusion based on their pupil characteristics. For the purposes of sampling, we used the number of temporary exclusions officially recorded over a five-to-seven-year period (depending on the availability of national data in each of the UK jurisdictions). School and local authority staff were selected on the basis of their roles. This data set comprises of interviews from across the UK with Headteachers, Alternative Provision providers in England and Scotland, and national policymakers in Scotland.The main aim of PolESE is to develop a multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies and consequences of school exclusion across the UK. There are great differences in the rates of permanent school exclusion in different parts of the UK with numbers rising rapidly in England but remaining relatively low or falling in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For example, in the last available figures (2016/7) there were 7,720 permanent exclusions in England compared to just five in Scotland. However, these figures do not account for many informal and illegal forms of exclusion. In this research, home international comparisons of historical and current policy, practice and legal frameworks relating to school exclusion will be conducted for the first time. Previous research and official statistics show that school exclusions are far more likely to affect pupils with special needs, from low income families, and particular ethnic backgrounds. Exclusions have long and short term consequences in terms of academic achievement, well-being, mental health, and future economic and employment prospects. PolESE is designed to highlight ways in which fairer and more productive outcomes can be achieved for pupils, their families, and professionals by comparing the ways in which policy and practice around exclusions differ in the four jurisdictions.
PolESE will be undertaken by the multi-disciplinary (criminology, disability studies, economics, education, human geography, law, psychiatry, sociology) and multi-site (Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Reading, LSE) Excluded Lives group established in 2014. In education, policy discourse has tended to find individual reasons for exclusion rather than develop an understanding of exclusion in the wider context of education, social policy and the law. Education policy has also largely ignored the work conducted by school and welfare professionals that attempts to address disruptive behaviour to prevent more serious incidents. In contrast, PolESE assumes that school exclusion cannot be treated as separate from the general welfare and education systems. Preliminary work has illustrated that pressures on schools to perform well in examination league tables can lead to the exclusion of pupils whose predicted attainment would weaken overall school performance, leaving these pupils on the social margins of schooling. Exclusion is a process, rather than a single incident, that can only be fully understood when examined from multiple professional and disciplinary perspectives.
The research is organised into three work strands. Strand A, Landscapes of Exclusion, is designed examine the ways in which legal frameworks, policies, and practices of regulation shape systemic practice; and the patterns, characteristics and consequences of exclusion. Strand B, Experiences of Exclusion, will focus on families', pupils' and professionals' experiences of the risks and consequences of exclusion. Strand C, Costs and Integration, will examine the financial costs associated with exclusion; it will also integrate findings within and across jurisdictions to ensure that the learning is continuous as the research develops a coherent multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies of exclusion. 1. The cost of exclusions at individual, institutional and system level (psychological, educational, sociological, economic, criminological, political lenses); 2. Rights and entitlements (legal, moral, social policy, political lenses); 3. Landscapes of exclusion (geographical, sociological, political lenses); 4. Protection and wellbeing (psychological, social work, legal and social policy lenses).
Researchers will engage directly with the Third Sector, professionals at school, local authority and jurisdiction government levels, as well as with disadvantaged and excluded pupils and their families.</p
Ministry of Justice Synthetic Data First Civil Court Iteration 2, England and Wales, 2011-2022
No full textAbstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Data First Synthetic Data Project aims to improve engagement with Data First datasets by making synthetic versions of content available to enable more rapid development of research proposals and to thereby enhance the potential for linked administrative data to improve understanding and outcomes across justice systems. The project has led the development of two components: a dataset generation platform and an initial release of lo-fidelity, synthetic data tables.This study includes a synthetically-generated version of the Ministry of Justice Data First Civil Courts datasets. Synthetic versions of all 43 tables in the MoJ Data First data ecosystem have been created. These versions can be used / joined in the same way as the real datasets. As well as underpinning training, synthetic datasets should enable researchers to explore research questions and to design research proposals prior to submitting these for approval. The code created during this exploration and design process should then enable initial results to be obtained as soon as data access is granted.
The Ministry of Justice Data First civil court dataset provides data on civil justice cases heard by the county courts in England and Wales from 2012. Data has been extracted from the CaseMan and Possession Claims Online (PCOL) management information systems, used by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to manage civil law cases within the county courts.
Information is included on individual civil actions (including money claims, damages, bankruptcy, and mortgage and landlord possession cases); the people involved as parties to the case and their role; and key case dates, processes and outcomes (such as monetary amounts awarded in judgments).
There are separate tables for cases or claims, parties, events in the case, hearings, judgments and warrants, which can be joined together. A civil case will usually have multiple people or companies involved (for example a claimant and defendant) and may have many events, which are each included as a separate record. These depend on the type of case and its progress.
As part of Data First, records have been de-identified and deduplicated, using our probabilistic record linkage package, Splink, so that a unique identifier is assigned to all records believed to relate to the same person, allowing for longitudinal analysis and investigation of repeat appearances. This opens up the potential to address questions on, for example, common transitions between different civil actions and patterns associated with repeat involvement in the civil court system.</p
Ministry of Justice Synthetic Data First Probation Iteration 2, England and Wales, 2014-2023
No full textAbstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Data First Synthetic Data Project aims to improve engagement with Data First datasets by making synthetic versions of content available to enable more rapid development of research proposals and to thereby enhance the potential for linked administrative data to improve understanding and outcomes across justice systems. The project has led the development of two components: a dataset generation platform and an initial release of lo-fidelity, synthetic data tables.This study includes a synthetically-generated version of the Ministry of Justice Data First Probation datasets. Synthetic versions of all 43 tables in the MoJ Data First data ecosystem have been created. These versions can be used / joined in the same way as the real datasets. As well as underpinning training, synthetic datasets should enable researchers to explore research questions and to design research proposals prior to submitting these for approval. The code created during this exploration and design process should then enable initial results to be obtained as soon as data access is granted. The Ministry of Justice Data First probation dataset provides data on people under the supervision of the probation service in England and Wales from 2014. This is a statutory criminal justice service that supervises high-risk offenders released into the community. The data has been extracted from the management information system national Delius (nDelius), used by His Majesty's Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) to manage people on probation. Information is included on service users' characteristics and offence, and on their pre-sentence reports, sentence requirements, licence conditions and post-sentence supervision; for example, age, gender, ethnicity, offence category, key dates relating to sentence and recalls, activities and programmes required as part of rehabilitation (e.g. drug and alcohol treatment, skills training) and limitations set on their activities (e.g. curfew, location monitoring, drugs testing). Each record in the dataset gives information about a single person and probation journey. As part of Data First, records have been deidentified and deduplicated, using our probabilistic record linkage package, Splink, so that a unique identifier is assigned to all records believed to relate to the same person, allowing for longitudinal analysis and investigation of repeat interactions with probation. This aims to improve on links already made within probation services. This opens up the potential to better understand probation service users and address questions on, for example, what works to reduce reoffending. The Ministry of Justice Data First linking dataset can be used in combination with this and other Data First datasets to join up administrative records about people from across justice services (courts, prisons and probation) to increase understanding around users' interactions, pathways and outcomes.</p
Designing for Healthy Cognitive Ageing Project: Virtual Reality-informed Design Development and Evaluation Data, 2022-2023
No full textThe virtual-reality design aimed to produce a home design that would be acceptable to both older people and housing professionals, would provide cognitive, sensory and physical support, and would be deliverable at scale. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling and through advertisement via project partners and collaborators.
Over three rounds of VR supported co-design workshops, taking place between May 2022, and July 2023, n=94 participants contributed to the iterative design of two VR-based prototype homes designs (the Stirling, a one storey home, and the Dunblane, a two storey home). Participants comprised n=48 housing related professionals (including Architects, builders, housing, and planning managers), and n=46 older people, aged 55 years or more. The complete process involved a total of 13 co-design workshops, comprising an average of 8.6 participants per workshop (range 1 to 12).
The first two rounds of co-design (in work package 3), comprising six workshops, followed the same two-stage format. After an introduction to the project as a group, individual participants experienced the virtual home designs whilst supported on a one-to-one basis by researchers. Most participants from these rounds experienced design immersion using a VR headset. One participant, who was unable to travel, took part from home using a remote VR protocol developed during a previous research project by members of the present team. Two further participants chose to view the designs using a web-based 3D viewer on a tablet computer. Conversations that took place during the workshops were voice recorded, for subsequent analysis.
Workshop voice recordings totaled over 40 hours of verbal commentary from individuals as they explored the designs, and over 15 hours of audio from conversations with facilitated groups of participants who had experienced the prototype home designs.
Whilst facilitating the VR experiences, researchers encouraged the participants to provide critique on the designs based on their own needs and preferences. Leading with prompts to the participants about the suitability of each design as a home for their ‘future self’ researchers then used conversational cognitive interview techniques aimed at uncovering the basis of participants' design comments. In many cases, this helped researchers distinguish between the most valuable comments; based on participants' personal needs, preferences, and experiences; versus those based on response bias, othering, or age-related stereotyping. For consistency, the researchers provided similar prompts to all participants, irrespective of their participant status as ‘older person’ or ‘housing professional.’
Immediately following their VR experience, the participants and researchers took part in a loosely structured group conversation, with discussion points covering their VR experience, and the potential role for the method in industry, as well as broader reflections on the prototype designs.
In the third (final) round (in work package 5), (n=49) participants joined (n=6) group design reviews. At this stage, the group discussions also covered wider issues of scalability of the designs.
Technology and Software
The home designs were modelled in 3d Studio Max, then imported to Unreal Engine where materials, lighting, and user movement parameters were set. This was in turn exported and side loaded onto Meta Oculus 2 VR headsets. Views from each space of both home designs were also exported to web-based VR viewer, enabling designs to be accessed via tablet computer or smartphone.As we age, many of us will experience cognitive changes, and for some of us, these will develop into dementia. We know that people's homes can make the experience of cognitive changes more difficult, or can enable continuing inclusion and sense of self-worth and self-esteem. DesHCA worked with people experiencing ageing and cognitive change and those who design and develop housing. DesHCA identified housing innovations that can support living better for longer with cognitive change. Our emphasis on healthy cognitive ageing goes beyond narrow conceptions of 'dementia-friendly design' into a more expansive and inclusive approach to housing innovation.
The multidisciplinary DesHCA team involved stakeholders from all areas of housing provision, including people experiencing ageing and cognitive change, architects and designers, housing experts, planners, builders and housing providers. Older people were integral to DesHCA and their health was at its heart. The project designed homes that act as demonstrators and test-beds for innovations to support healthy cognitive ageing. These designs have been developed and evaluated from stakeholder points of view, then considered at a larger scale to examine their real-world feasibility. DesHCA is feeding directly into the UK and Scottish Government City Region Deal for Central Scotland (Stirling and Clackmannanshire), providing groundwork for local housing developments. The focus of this is sustainable, lifetime health, community and economic development, addressing deprivation and inequality.
To achieve these aims, DesHCA took a co-production approach, with the whole team working to identify innovations that engage with their real-world experiences and aspirations. We used a range of data collection methods and produced analyses informed the design of the demonstrator houses. These designs evolved as stakeholders interacted with them and provided feedback from their different points of view. To collect data, we asked older people to map and evaluate their own homes and to experience and comment on new design features using virtual reality (VR). They then collaborated with builders, architects and housing providers in VR workshops to identify practical, realistic and affordable designs that can support healthy cognitive ageing, and therefore longer healthy, independent life. Partners came together in interactive workshops to convert designs into plans within a fictional town, building and retrofitting homes, creating services and managing budgets. We demonstrated how designs can work out in the real world, and how to bring together the various interests involved. Throughout, issues of costs were considered, to inform business planning and help make decisions on implementation of the new designs.
The impact of DesHCA is achieved through showing what works in housing design for healthy cognitive ageing. Immediately, DesHCA will feed into the City Region Deal and longer term we will provide tools for future developers to inform their decisions about housing for healthy cognitive ageing. Throughout the project, disseminate findings were distributed to the housing, architecture and building sectors through stakeholder networks. We have published rigorous research findings to provide a peer reviewed, high quality research base for innovation. Thus the project goes beyond recommendations and guidance to provide evidence to support delivery at scale, grounded in the co-production approach that draws on the real experience, interests and imperatives that drive different stakeholders.
DesHCA's multidisciplinary team built capacity among early career researchers in research leadership, working across disciplines such as architecture and planning, economics, sociology and across sectors with a range of different industrial and professional stakeholders, such as housing workers, planners and construction companies.</p
Cancer Research UK Local Cancer Awareness Measure, Greater Manchester, April-May 2024: Special Licence Access
No full textAbstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was developed in 2007-8 to address the absence of a validated measure of general public awareness of cancer (Stubbings, S., Robb, K., Waller, J., Ramirez, A., Austoker, J., Macleod, U., Hion, S., and Wardle, J. (2009) 'Development of a measurement tool to assess public awareness of cancer', British Journal of Cancer, 101(2), S13-S17.).The survey includes measures of awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, cancer risk factors, age-related risk, screening programmes and potential barriers to seeing the GP. Since then, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has significantly revised and updated the survey, including a wider range of questions and collecting data online instead of face-to-face. In 2023-2024 Cancer Research UK ran two Local Cancer Awareness Measure Plus (CAM+) pilots, collecting data in two local regions (Greater Manchester and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR)) using both an online panel and community sampling to recruit participants. The LLR pilot Local CAM+ datasets are available under SNs 9343 and 9359.The Greater Manchester (GM) pilot Local CAM+ dataset does not include National CAM+ questions on alcohol consumption, physical activity, perception of health services capacity and closeness to cancer. However, it includes additional questions on possible facilitators for cancer screening attendance and willingness to travel for hospital tests.A End User Licence version of this study is available under SN 9342.Further information about the CAM+ may be found on the Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measure Plus (CAM+) webpage.Main Topics:The CAM questionnaires address the following topics: public awareness of cancer symptoms public knowledge of cancer risk factors barriers and enablers to help seeking uptake of screening programmes barriers to cancer screening (cervical, breast and bowel)experience of breast and cervical cancer screening symptom experience co-morbiditiesperception of symptom seriousness help seeking behaviours including remote consultation and re-presentation perceptions of remote consultation demographic variables including health behaviours such as smoking and fruit and vegetable consumption.From 2021 onwards, the questionnaire also covers:impact of COVID-19 on help seeking behaviourperceptions of safety from COVID-19 in different medical settings.The Special Licence version of the CAM dataset includes more detailed data on symptoms, risk factors and reasons for delay. Users should check the standard End User Licence (EUL) version of the study to see whether it meets their research needs before making an application for the Special Licence version.</p
Everyday Digital Life, 2022
No full textThis data deposit is based upon a year-long ethnographic study of the digital lives of asylum seekers in the UK. The aim of the study was to understand the role that smartphones now play in the asylum application process and broader parts of everyday life (making friends, staying connected with family, navigating cities etc.). This project was co-designed with a charity in the NE England, and the interview questions were developed and implemented together. They span both sides of the project (i.e. in direct relation to the asylum application process and broader everyday life)
Transcribed Historic Data from the Last Recorded Smallpox Outbreaks in Somalia, 1976-1977
No full textSmallpox, caused by the variola virus, was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide before its eradication was declared by the World Health Assembly in 1980. While modern disease outbreaks are modelled using contemporary data, the potential use of smallpox as a bioterrorist threat remains a concern, continuing to generate debate about the most effective modelling strategies to inform public health preparedness. Understanding how to control an eradicated disease like smallpox relies on the analysis of historical data.
This study focuses on transcribed smallpox outbreak data from Somalia’s last recorded outbreaks (1976–1977), which were not only the final outbreaks in Somalia but also the last naturally occurring smallpox outbreaks in the world. The original handwritten records, obtained from the World Health Organization by a Public Health England (now UK Health Security Agency) study team, were digitized from PDF format into a Microsoft Excel worksheet through manual transcription. To ensure data accuracy and consistency, rigorous validation processes were applied. The resulting line-list dataset comprises 3,255 recorded cases of variola minor smallpox and includes key epidemiological variables: national case series number, age, sex, date of rash onset, date detected, village/locality, district, region, regional outbreak number, and national outbreak number.
The primary goal of this project is to make these historical data globally accessible to epidemiologists and infectious disease modelers, enhancing our understanding of smallpox transmission dynamics in Somalia during the eradication period and informing strategies for potential future outbreaks in naïve populations. This data transcription forms part of a broader initiative, which also includes:
1. A descriptive epidemiological study characterizing smallpox cases and estimating incidence rates during the final outbreaks.
2. A modelling study estimating the basic reproduction number (R) for smallpox using two different disease dynamic models.
By preserving and analyzing these historical data, this project provides valuable insights for infectious disease preparedness and response, bridging past experiences with future public health strategies.Smallpox, caused by the variola virus, was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide before its eradication was declared by the World Health Assembly in 1980. While modern disease outbreaks are modelled using contemporary data, the potential use of smallpox as a bioterrorist threat remains a concern, continuing to generate debate about the most effective modelling strategies to inform public health preparedness. Understanding how to control an eradicated disease like smallpox relies on the analysis of historical data.
This study focuses on transcribed smallpox outbreak data from Somalia’s last recorded outbreaks (1976–1977), which were not only the final outbreaks in Somalia but also the last naturally occurring smallpox outbreaks in the world. The original handwritten records, obtained from the World Health Organization by a Public Health England (now UK Health Security Agency) study team, were digitized from PDF format into a Microsoft Excel worksheet through manual transcription. To ensure data accuracy and consistency, rigorous validation processes were applied. The resulting line-list dataset comprises 3,255 recorded cases of variola minor smallpox and includes key epidemiological variables: national case series number, age, sex, date of rash onset, date detected, village/locality, district, region, regional outbreak number, and national outbreak number.
The primary goal of this project is to make these historical data globally accessible to epidemiologists and infectious disease modelers, enhancing our understanding of smallpox transmission dynamics in Somalia during the eradication period and informing strategies for potential future outbreaks in naïve populations. This data transcription forms part of a broader initiative, which also includes:
1. A descriptive epidemiological study characterizing smallpox cases and estimating incidence rates during the final outbreaks.
2. A modelling study estimating the basic reproduction number (R) for smallpox using two different disease dynamic models.
By preserving and analyzing these historical data, this project provides valuable insights for infectious disease preparedness and response, bridging past experiences with future public health strategies.</p
On the Motivational Power of Pride: A Field Study With Participants in a Road-Running Event, 2019
No full textThe data made available corresponds to Project 2 advertised in the grant, where participants in a road-running event were challenged by the experimenter in their ability to meet their goal for the race. This is the formatted dataset, which brings together survey responses from two different questionnaires together with race results, for several road-running races.
The aim is to explore how perceived threats to self-image impact effort and performance in a real-world setting.Peter is told by his dad that he should forget about applying to top schools given his level. Mary overhears her colleagues saying she does not have what it takes to become a manager. Jim learns that he does not have the favour of the bookmakers in his next professional tennis match. In those three situations, how would Peter, Mary, and Jim react to the adversarial information they received? Would their motivation drop or would they try harder to prove others wrong?
If human beings had no concern for their ego and acted fully rationally, then the three protagonists should react in only one of two ways in the above situations. If the feedback came from an informed party who knows something about their true ability, they should incorporate this feedback in their expectations and become more pessimistic about their chances of success. Alternatively, if the sender of the adversarial information knows nothing about their ability, they should simply discard this information. In either case, the motivation to succeed should not increase and might really drop.
However, evidence from psychology and behavioural economics suggests that people have image concerns: they want to believe in their ability, talent, or skills and they want others to think the same. As a result, they may try harder to prove to others and/or to themselves that they can. It is not difficult to think of examples in which the pride feelings of an individual might push him to go beyond others' (and possibly their own) expectations. Where does this motivational force come from, how is it triggered, and how can we use it to help people perform better? The purpose of this research programme is to shed light on this set of unexplored issues.
Understanding the motivational effect of perceived threats (vs. boosts) to a person's image is important for the design of behaviour change interventions (e.g., interventions that seek to make people lose weight, exercise more, save for retirement, recycle their waste, etc...). Up until recently, interventions designed to make people change their habits focused almost entirely on the use of monetary incentives, with limited long-term effects. While a burgeoning literature has started to investigate the importance of image concerns as a source of motivation, little is known so far about the ways in which this motivational force could be leveraged to design powerful behaviour change interventions.
The goal of this research programme is to make a step in this direction. In a series of three projects conducted in three different environments, I will explore what happens to the motivation of individuals who feel challenged in their ability to complete an ego-relevant task. The first two projects are online experiments in which participants will be randomly assigned to different conditions; in some of these conditions, they will receive a message either from a peer (Project 1) or from the researcher (Project 2) that explicitly questions their ability to succeed in a challenging task. The tasks are (i) staying off Facebook for 28 consecutive days (Project 1) and (ii) meeting a goal in a road-running race (Project 2). In Project 3, I ask whether receiving evidence that challenges one's sense of ego has the same motivational effect in a natural environment i.e., when people are not part of an experiment. In this last project, I study whether students who just fell short of receiving specific honours in a preliminary examination become more motivated to obtain this form of recognition in their final exams.
Of course, not everyone will be more motivated upon receiving ego-threatening information and some people might even get particularly discouraged. I will study empirically how different categories of people react to perceived challenges and assess the emotional impact of those challenges. Finally, I will develop a theoretical framework to articulate the mechanisms that could drive motivation in these types of situations.</p
Risk and Protective Factors for Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Samoa: Cross-Sectional Survey Data From Village Communities, 2024
No full textThis dataset was generated as part of the Evidence for Violence Prevention in the Extreme (EVE) Project case study in Samoa, locally known as E le Saua le Alofa. The project aims to co-develop and test community-led, culturally grounded interventions to prevent violence against women and girls, using participatory and decolonial approaches that center local knowledge and leadership.
The data were collected during a cross-sectional baseline survey conducted across nine rural villages in Samoa between December 2022 and January 2023. The primary aim of the survey was to measure the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and explore a range of associated factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, mental health, gender norms, and community responses to violence.
The dataset offers a valuable source of baseline evidence on IPV in the Pacific Island context, addressing a significant gap in empirical research from the region. It is designed to support future analysis on the social, cultural, and structural determinants of IPV and inform the development of prevention strategies tailored to similar settings.
This resource is intended for use by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working in the fields of public health and gender-based violence prevention. It contributes to global efforts to localise violence prevention efforts and strengthens the evidence base for community-led approaches in low- and middle-income countries.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2013), violence against women (VAW) is a pandemic in many parts of the world with severe implications for women's physical and mental health. In the world's highest prevalence settings, eight out of ten women will experience physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner or stranger in their lifetime (WHO 2005, 2013). This is an enormous health and human rights issue, and yet we know very little about how it should be addressed. The proposed research programme draws on my specialisation in preventing violence against women for the highest prevalence settings, developed through over 30 peer-reviewed publications and increasingly large grants for projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, and the Amazon. High prevalence settings (where over 50% of women experience violence) present unique challenges for violence prevention: violence is widely accepted as normal by both men and women (Tran et al. 2016), those seeking help frequently experience stigma, discrimination, and further violence from family, community members, police and health professionals (Odero et al. 2014), and evidence of health system responses to VAW are largely non-existent (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2015). This research programme works in partnership with indigenous communities in Samoa and Peru to build an evidence base for how to prevent violence in high prevalence settings. Through well-established partnerships with local organisations, I will work with community members, leaders and local representatives in both settings to adapt innovative tools for measuring violence against women and establish ethical guidelines for how to research violence appropriately and sensitively. I will then create a theory of change for how to engage high-prevalence communities in reducing violence against women. These initial stages of the research culminate in the co-creation of an intervention to prevent violence against women in partnership with local communities that draws on the theory of change and ethical guidelines, followed by testing the effectiveness of the intervention using the highest standards of evaluation methodologies so that the intervention can potentially be rolled out in other high-prevalence communities around the world. This is a truly multidisciplinary project that requires an integration of skills and methods from across psychology, political science and global health epidemiology to be effective. To achieve this, I will draw on my unique background in the sociology of gender (PhD), community psychology (MSc, post-doc), and humanities (BA), and complement this with mentoring from the world's leading experts in process tracing methods from political science (Prof Jeremy Shiffman, JHU), VAW prevention interventions (Prof David Osrin, UCL), and the evaluation of community interventions in global health (Dr Andrew Copas, UCL) alongside training in epidemiology, statistics, and research leadership. Each stage of the research will include a knowledge-exchange activity between Peru and Samoa to build local research capacity and establish connections with scholars working on violence prevention in high-prevalence settings across Asia, South America and in the UK. Knowledge-exchange activities, an international advisory committee and public engagement will provide a means of linking local actors with global organisations I have worked with in the past including the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), the South African MRC's Gender and Health Research Unit, UN Women, and the World Bank. In the short-term, the research has the potential to improve women's lives in Samoa and Peru by reducing the violence they experience. For the longer-term future, the development of new tools, theoretical frameworks and an intervention to prevent violence against women in high-prevalence settings has the potential to improve women's lives in similar settings all over the world.</p