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Changing Research Practices: Undertaking social research in the context of Covid-19
Get PDFCovid-19 is a global pandemic with devastating impacts on lives and economies worldwide. It has disrupted research practices such that the ESRC funded NCRM to:
1. engage the research community (within and beyond the academy) in learning and sharing positive methodological responses to, and possibilities within, the constraints of Covid-19 measures when conducting social research; and
2. synthesise the evidence available to the research community on how social research methods have been successfully adapted for, or may work within, pandemic conditions.
This is the main report from the 'Changing Research Practices: Undertaking social research in the context of Covid-19' projec
Introduction to Modelling Part 1
No full textIn this video, Dr Martin Hinsch gives a brief general introduction to modelling. He uses examples to talk about two types of models: the predictive models and the explanatory models
Advanced Bayesian Methods: The Basics of Bayesian Computation
No full textIn this video, Dr Gabriel Katz talks about the basics of Bayesian computation, working through a series of exercises. Using an example of Bayesian inference, he goes over the four steps of Bayesian analysis: specifying the data model, choosing the prior distribution for p, deriving the posterior distribution for p and finally, summarising f
Computational Social Science: A Thematic Review
Get PDFThe explosion of social digital data and the concomitant increases in computational capabilities along the data analytics pipeline (data acquisition, storage and analysis) impact upon the possibilities and choices for conducting social research. This report examines the emerging research field called computational social science (CSS). The aim of this review is to offer insight into the shape of CSS, its questions and methodologies, and how these relate to and interact with different social science disciplines. Two searches and hand sorting identified 41 of the most highly cited publications. The papers were initially categorised into two main groups of papers: substantive-technical contributions and critical-review contributions. The groups were thematically analysed. As a validation and refinement exercise, a further search identified thirty of the most recent CSS papers, which were also categorised and analysed. The review focuses on the first 41 articles as well as several other relevant articles are discussed that were identified through citations, additional ad hoc searches, and personal conversations. The substantive-technical literature and critical-review literature can each be sub-divided into three groups, and findings from these six groups are described. In the discussion, we draw out points related to interdisciplinarity and potential implications of the findings for engagement research communities
In Conversation Vernon Gayle and Graham Crow — Research Methods Past, Present and Future
Get PDFIn this video, Vernon Gayle is in conversation with Graham Crow, Professor of Sociology and Methodology at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
As he approaches retirement, Graham reflects on his career, including studying sociology, his experiences of communities research, and methods used in disability research. Graham also explores innovations in research and his works with the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM)
A practical guide to developing research objects when undertaking reproducible statistically orientated social science research during COVID-19
Get PDFThe unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 global pandemic has had extremely disruptive effects on contemporary social life. The empirical findings that flow from social science inquiries have important implications for establishing policies and changing practices. The speed at which the pandemic has unfolded has led to a previously unparalleled requirement for rapid results from social science studies. This acceleration has consequences for verifying empirical results, and for building incrementally on research findings.
In another document we provide general guidance on how to adopt transparent and reproducible practices in statistically orientated social science research during the COVID-19 pandemic (http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/4402/). One recommendation was the production of research objects. Research objects are uncommon in the social sciences and they are introduced and explicated in this guide
The NCRM wayfinder guide to moving to secondary data analysis
Get PDFResearch work in all forms and across all fields can benefit from making use of both primary and secondary data analysis. While primary data commonly refers to the data collected and used for a specific targeted research study, secondary data is the re-use or re-analysis of primary data collected elsewhere for new purposes – potentially in addition to or extending beyond the original scope of the data.
The importance of secondary data has been highlighted by COVID-19 and related research work. For example, administrative Test and Trace records are used not only for counting the number of positive cases and prevalence of COVID-19 infections, but have further been used in conjunction with other data to study the broader dynamics of the pandemic and help improve insights. We can extend the value of these data through linking and matching different secondary data sources to other external datasets such as local characteristics of neighbourhood demographics, socio-economic conditions, deprivation, or accessibility to key public amenities and health infrastructure.
As we move into the territory of including secondary data to the analysis, it is important to understand the benefits, limitations and best practices associated with it. Learning to effectively incorporate secondary data and analysis into a research project can be an important way in which to build up a robust and comprehensive study
Expressive methods during the pandemic
No full textThis presentation is part of an NCRM webinar on Methods adapted or suited to research in the pandemic, 28 January 2021, Online
Presenter: Prof Melanie Nind, University of Southampton
The full webinar can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BerHH0PW-ZQ&list=PLzv58M2GAfm5DW00KORN5N6kV7vpZ4dhT&index=4&t=13s
The webinar was based on the NCRM project Changing Research Practice: Undertaking social science research in the context of Covid-19 https://www.ncrm.ac.uk/research/socscicovid19
Expressive methods during pandemic
No full textThis presentation is part of an NCRM webinar on Methods adapted or suited to research in the pandemic, 28 January 2021, Online
Presenter: Prof Melanie Nind, University of Southampto
Making research ethical - emerging issues in changing research practice for Covid-19 times
No full textThis presentation is part of an NCRM webinar on Emerging Issues in Changing Research Practices for Covid-19 Times, 11 February Online
Presenter: Dr Andy Coverdale, University of Southampto