Working with Your Supervisor

Online via Zoom

Prof. Lydia Plowman, Dr. Scott Hurrell and Prof. Sue Fletcher-Watson draw on their experiences of supervising doctoral research students to reflect on progress throughout the PhD, from identifying your research topic through to submitting the thesis and preparing for the viva. They will discuss questions such as: What can I reasonably expect of my supervisor(s)? What can the supervisor(s) reasonably expect from me? How can I ensure a successful working relationship? What is the role of the second supervisor?

Shared Dialogue Workshops in Multidisciplinary Research

Online via Microsoft Teams

Drawing on experiences from recent and current research projects this talk shall explore what a Shared Dialogue Workshop is, and why using them can be incredibly powerful in applied research projects. This presentation shall be especially relevant to those interested in projects which include social AND natural scientists, and/or those who want to build interlocker insight into an output-design process from day one of a project.

Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences

Online via Microsoft Teams

This session will introduce the use of natural experiments in the social sciences to provide potentially stronger evidence for causal claims than in observational quantitative studies. The training will describe why study design matters for causal claims and will present a selection of case-studies that employ natural experiments. Students will be introduced to the quantitative techniques used to analyse natural experiments and will provided with a hands on opportunity to apply a differences in differences analysis. Students will use Stata and must be familiar with this software (including the use of syntax) and have experience and understanding of generalised linear models. The training will be delivered through pre-recorded videos although the instructor will run a live online introduction at the start and a Q&A at the end. Some pre-course reading will be provided.

Conducting Research with LGBTQ+ People & the Significance of the Census

Online via Zoom

The LGBTQ+ community is a heavily researched group. However, issues still arise in how they are engaged with and represented. This workshop is broken down into two sections. The first section will feature a lecture and Q&A on the production of data on the LGBTQ+ community in the next round of censuses. The 2021/2022 censuses will be the first to ask about sexual orientation and gender modality. This will provide the first estimates of trans populations in Scotland, England and Wales and a more expansive understanding of sexual orientation demographics across the UK. For researchers, this is a crucial leap forward as it enables a better assessment of research representativeness.