10:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Wednesday 6 April 2016

Place: Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff University, Caerdydd/Cardiff.

Presenters

Professor Howard Davis, School of Social Sciences, Bangor University

Professor Howard Davis is Professor of Social Theory and Institutions in the School of Social Sciences, Bangor University and Co-Director of the Wales Institute for Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD).  His research interests include the sociology of culture, identities and social change in societies in transition.  He is co-investigator on the ESRC large grant WISERD Civil Society (2014-19) which is examining civil society, participation and change in Wales and beyond.

Dr Marta Eichsteller, School of Social Sciences, Bangor University

Dr Marta Eichsteller is a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at Bangor University and Research Officer in Bangor WISERD team currently investigating ‘Civic Participation in Wales, in place and over time’.  Marta has a PhD from Bangor University.  Her PhD work, titled: ‘Becoming a Citizen of the World – a narrative biographical study of new cosmopolitans’, was supervised by Professor Howard Davis.  Marta also completed her MSc in Sociology (Research) at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (2008) as well as an MA degree in Sociology at Jagiellonian University, Poland (2006).  Marta’s research interests are focused on formation of identity and belonging on a local, national and international level as well as innovative methodological approaches to biographical narrative data – mixed methods, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), narrative ethnography and semantic network analysis.

Workshop Description

The so-called ‘biographical turn’ in qualitative social sciences has proved to be popular among researchers looking for in-depth understanding of how individual actions and broader social processes interact.  It has also produced many different versions of biographical data collection and analysis.  For the researcher planning to use a biographical approach there are choices to be made which will be influenced by research aims, epistemology, theory, analytical procedures and software.  The workshop is designed to help researchers interested in biographical approaches but who are unclear about which type of narrative analysis to adopt.  It will combine an overview of different methods of interpretation with data-based sessions.  It will be informed by research conducted for the EU FP7 project Euroidentities, one of the most extensive applications of biographical narrative within Europe, as well as systematic methodological research comparing alternative biographical narrative approaches.

Topics covered include:

• The origins and development of the main types of biographical method
• Key concepts, including biography, story, narrative, life history
• Comparison of approaches including formal structural analysis, narrative ethnography and Qualitative Comparative Analysis
• Work with transcripts to demonstrate different types of analysis
• Criteria for design of research using biographical narrative data

The workshop aims to enable participants to:

• Appreciate the value of biographical data for answering a variety of research questions
• Understand the key differences between type of biographical method
• Recognise and apply a range of analytical procedures used in biographical research
• Make informed choices about research designs for projects using narrative data in fields such as migration studies, family, gender, health, education, careers and economic change

Cost

• Wales DTC postgraduate social science research students, i.e. students registered at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff or Swansea Universities: free of charge.
• Postgraduate social science research students registered at a UK HEI: free of charge
• Non social-science postgraduate research students: £30.00
• Staff at HEIs, ESRC funded researchers, UK registered charities: £60.00
• Others: £150

Lunch and refreshments are provided.  The Wales DTC is able to provide a limited number of bursaries (up to £150) to support the attendance of postgraduate social science research students from outside of the Wales DTC institutions (Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities).  Students must be currently registered at a UK HEI.  The bursary is designed to meet travel costs (standard/economy travel) and hotel accommodation.  Bursaries will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.  Non-Wales DTC students should contact walesdtc@cardiff.ac.uk regarding the availability of a bursary and for information on how to claim back expenses, after completing the booking form below.

Please note that cancellations received any later than 14 days before the event may be subject to a charge.

Students registered at Cardiff University should book through the UGC booking system.  All others should use the form below.

If you require further information or if you have trouble booking a space, please contact the Wales DTC (walesdtc@cardiff.ac.uk).

Deadline for bookings

24 March 2016

Bookings