Showing papers in "Sociological Research Online in 2012"
TL;DR: In this article, a video-ethnography approach is proposed to understand everyday life that takes as its starting point the sensory aesthetics of place, and explores how the video tour as a multisensorial and collaborative research encounter can open up understandings of home as place-event.
Abstract: This article proposes and demonstrates an approach to understanding everyday life that takes as its starting point the sensory aesthetics of place. In doing so it advances a video-ethnography approach to studying 'invisible' elements of everyday domestic life through the prism of the sensory home. Our concern is chiefly methodological: first, we take a biography of method approach to explain and identify the status of the research knowledge this approach can produce; second, we outline how the video tour as a multisensorial and collaborative research encounter can open up understandings of home as place-event; finally, we probe the status of video as ethnographic description by inviting the reader/viewer to access ways of knowing as they are inscribed in embedded clips, in relation to our written argument. To demonstrate this we discuss and embed clips from a pilot video tour developed as part of an interdisciplinary research project, seeking to understand domestic energy consumption as entangled in everyday practices, experiences and creativities.
116 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study of social researchers using visual methods in the UK explored their views, the challenges they face and the practices they adopt in relation to processes of ethical review.
Abstract: The ethical regulation of social research in the UK has been steadily increasing over the last decade or so and comprises a form of audit to which all researchers in Higher Education are subject. Concerns have been raised by social researchers using visual methods that such ethical scrutiny and regulation will place severe limitations on visual research developments and practice. This paper draws on a qualitative study of social researchers using visual methods in the UK. The study explored their views, the challenges they face and the practices they adopt in relation to processes of ethical review. Researchers reflected on the variety of strategies they adopted for managing the ethical approval process in relation to visual research. For some this meant explicitly 'making the case' for undertaking visual research, notwithstanding the ethical challenges, while for others it involved 'normalising' visual methods in ways which delimited the possible ethical dilemmas of visual approaches. Researchers only rarely identified significant barriers to conducting visual research from ethical approval processes, though skilful negotiation and actively managing the system was often required. Nevertheless, the climate of increasing ethical regulation is identified as having a potential detrimental effect on visual research practice and development, in some instances leading to subtle but significant self-censorship in the dissemination of findings.
70 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors open up debate about the methodological implications of adopting practice theory in social research and propose a methodological framework for social research based on practice theory, which has become a much used analytical framework for rese...
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to open up debate about the methodological implications of adopting practice theory in social research. Practice theory has become a much used analytical framework for rese...
64 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take as a focus some issues relating to the possibility for, and effective conduct of, qualitative secondary data analysis, and consider some challenges for the re-use of qualitat...
Abstract: The current paper takes as a focus some issues relating to the possibility for, and effective conduct of, qualitative secondary data analysis. We consider some challenges for the re-use of qualitat...
51 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a female academic researcher in the hypermasculine subculture of "football hooliganism" reflects upon being a female researcher in this subculture, with the subculture being a male-dominated field of study.
Abstract: This article reflects upon being a female academic researcher in the hyper-masculine subculture of ‘football hooliganism’. With this subculture being a male-dominated field of study, the article ar...
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the use of participant-produced digital footage of family Christmases, collected as part of a larger project exploring family backgrounds and family traditions, for exploring family traditions.
Abstract: In this paper, we discuss our use of participant-produced digital footage of family Christmases, collected as part of a larger project exploring family backgrounds and family traditions. The audio-...
37 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an open access open access article through the publisher's website at the link below: http://www.sociologicalresearchonline.org/blogs/blogs.
Abstract: This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright © Sociological Research Online 2012.
36 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the role of transnational higher education in reproducing local patterns of disadvantage in Hong Kong and found that these students/graduates are in various ways relatively disadvantaged by these degrees, and find that their degrees are less valued than their local equivalent.
Abstract: This paper examines the role of transnational higher education in reproducing local patterns of disadvantage in Hong Kong. Specifically, it considers the expectations and experiences of local students undertaking British degree programmes, drawing on the findings of a recent qualitative research project. In this paper, we argue that through the introduction of so-called 'top-up' programmes, British universities are providing degree-level education to students unable to access local higher education (HE) in Hong Kong through the 'traditional' route. Drawing upon our interviews with students and graduates, we show the immense cultural and social expectations, placed upon young people in Hong Kong, to obtain a university degree, and the role of 'international' education in (partially) offsetting the shortfall in domestic university places. However, we also suggest that these students/graduates are in various ways relatively disadvantaged by these degrees – they often have less cultural capital and social capital on which to draw, and find that their degrees are less valued than their local equivalent. There are broader implications of our findings for understanding the role of transnational educational provision in localised reproduction of (dis)advantage, especially in East Asia.
33 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how this changing social zeitgeist impacts on the school experiences of LGBT youth. But, they focus on combating heteronormativity in school settings, and also explore the extent to which this theory has relevance for women.
Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that LGBT students tend to have negative experiences of school, suffering social marginalisation and discrimination One key reason for this has been the homophobia of heterosexual male students However, my research into sixth forms in the south of England has documented a marked change in the attitudes of straight youth, who now espouse pro-gay attitudes In this article, I explore how this changing social zeitgeist impacts on the school experiences of LGBT youth Building on a four-month ethnography at a religious sixth form college, I present the experiences of four students: one gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered student Highlighting the similarities and differences in their experiences, I demonstrate the positive influence decreasing homophobia has on all students, and I argue that it is necessary to focus on combating heteronormativity in school settings Framing these findings using inclusive masculinity theory, I also explore the extent to which this theory has relevance for women
33 citations
TL;DR: This article studied how children and their parents think about their future in terms of employment, and found that the question of what they want to be when they grow up is often asked of children.
Abstract: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is a question often asked of children yet little is known about how children and their parents think about their future in terms of employment. This paper...
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss and exemplify more visual and expressive way of constructing and presenting sociological insight, and articulate the specific demands, traits and potentials of the visual essay as a societal and sociological practice and format.
Abstract: This article discusses and exemplifies more visual and expressive way of constructing and presenting sociological insight. It seeks to articulate the specific demands, traits and potentials of the 'visual essay' as a societal and sociological practice and format. More in particular it provides some observations, propositions and arguments that may further help to clarify what the visual sociological essay as a unorthodox scholarly product might entail and what place it should acquire in the broader scholarly discourse. This theoretical discussion is complemented with excerpts of concrete visual essays of both scholarly and non-scholarly origin. These examples help to explain some of the basic strengths of this format that tries to play out the synergy of the distinct forms of expression that are combined: images, words, layout and design, adding up to a scientifically informed statement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the significance of gender, age and ethnicity to fieldwork processes and 'field' relationships, highlighting the importance of dress and specific presentations of the embodied self within the research process, and illustrate how age, gender and status intersect to produce fluctuating insider/outsider boundaries as well as different opportunities and experiences of power and vulnerability within research relationships.
Abstract: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in researching people growing older in the South Asian ethnic minority communities in the UK. However, these populations have received comparatively little attention in wide-ranging discussions on culturally and socially appropriate research methodologies. In this paper, we draw on the experiences of a young female Pakistani Muslim researcher researching older Pakistani Muslim women and men, to explore the significance of gender, age and ethnicity to fieldwork processes and 'field' relationships. In particular, we highlight the significance of dress and specific presentations of the embodied self within the research process. We do so by focusing upon three key issues: (1) Insider/Outsider boundaries and how these boundaries are continuously and actively negotiated in the field through the use of dress and specific presentations of the embodied 'self'; (2) The links between gender, age and space - more specifically, how the researcher's use of traditional Pakistani dress, and her differing research relationships, are influenced by the older Pakistani Muslim participants' gendered use of public and private space; and (3) The opportunities and vulnerabilities experienced by the researcher in the field, reinforced by her use (or otherwise) of the traditional and feminine Pakistani Muslim dress. Our research therefore highlights the role of different presentations of the embodied 'self' to fieldwork processes and relationships, and illustrates how age, gender and status intersect to produce fluctuating insider/outsider boundaries as well as different opportunities and experiences of power and vulnerability within research relationships.
TL;DR: The aim of the article is to show how digital by-product data can be used to see the social in alternative ways, and explores how this commercial software might enable us to find patterns amongst ‘monumentally detailed data’.
Abstract: This article asks if it is possible to use commercial data analysis software and digital by-product data to do critical social science. In response this article introduces social media data aggregator software to a social science audience. The article explores how this particular software can be used to do social research. It uses some specific examples in order to elaborate upon the potential of the software and the type of insights it can be used to generate. The aim of the article is to show how digital by-product data can be used to see the social in alternative ways, it explores how this commercial software might enable us to find patterns amongst 'monumentally detailed data'. As such is responds to Andrew Abbott's as yet unresolved eleven year old reflections on the crucial challenges that face the social sciences in a data rich era.
TL;DR: The practice of using participatory visual methods in research with young people is one that has come under scrutiny in recent years as mentioned in this paper, and many scholars have examined these practices in order to questio...
Abstract: The practice of using participatory visual methods in research with young people is one that has come under scrutiny in recent years. Many scholars have examined these practices in order to questio...
Abstract: This article provides a unique contribution to the debates about archived qualitative data by drawing on two uses of the same data - British Migrants in Spain: the Extent and Nature of Social Integration, 2003-2005 - by Jones (2009) and Oliver and O'Reilly (2010), both of which utilise Bourdieu's concepts analytically and produce broadly similar findings. We argue that whilst the insights and experiences of those researchers directly involved in data collection are important resources for developing contextual knowledge used in data analysis, other kinds of critical distance can also facilitate credible data use. We therefore challenge the assumption that the idiosyncratic relationship between context, reflexivity and interpretation limits the future use of data. Moreover, regardless of the complex genealogy of the data itself, given the number of contingencies shaping the qualitative research process and thus the potential for partial or inaccurate interpretation, contextual familiarity need not be privileged over other aspects of qualitative praxis such as sustained theoretical insight, sociological imagination and methodological rigour. © Sociological Research Online, 1996-2012.
TL;DR: In this paper, a multi-sensory ethnographic research into fishmongers on a south London market, the setting for a specific topography of work, is presented.
Abstract: This article is based on multi-sensory ethnographic research into fishmongers on a south London market, the setting for a specific topography of work. We contrast Charlie, a white Londoner whose family has been in the fish business for over 100 years, with Khalid, an immigrant from Kashmir, who, even without the tacit knowledge of generations at his fingertips, has successfully found a place for himself in the local and global economy of fish. The research pays attention to the everyday forms of work that take place when the fishmongers sell to the public. We use these two very different cases to explore what constitutes work and labour and the different sensibilities that these two men bring to their trade. Drawing on observations, photography and sound recordings, the paper also represents the fishmongers at work. We take the two cases in turn to discuss learning the trade and the craft of fishmongering, the social relations of the market, and the art of buying and selling fish. More generally, the article explores how global connections are threaded through the local economy within a landscape of increasing cultural and racial diversity. It also critically discusses the gain of the visual as well as the aural for generating insights into and representing the sensuous quality of labour as an embodied practice.
TL;DR: It is found that pre-drinking has a specific purpose for young women in managing risk, as well as ensuring a shared level of intoxication in preparation for entry into public drinking spaces.
Abstract: Pre-drinking, also known as pre-partying, pre-gaming, and front- or pre-loading, is the intensive pair or group consumption of alcohol in a private home prior to going out for the night, with the i...
TL;DR: In this article, social interactions between detailed occupational positions are analyzed as a means of exploring social and occupational inequalities, and two methods are employed: descriptive techniques of sociotechnical techniques and sociological methods.
Abstract: This paper analyses social interactions between detailed occupational positions as a means of exploring social and occupational inequalities. Two methods are employed: descriptive techniques of soc...
TL;DR: For instance, this paper examined children's and young people's food and eating practices using audio diaries, memory work/books, email interviews and interviews on the move, which offer the researcher the opportunity to build rapport with and collect narratives about food from children.
Abstract: Research examining children's and young people's food and eating practices has become more common place in recent years. Qualitative methods can be useful in such sense-making research, where an individual's narrative is likely to involve complexity, contradiction and ambiguity. Speaking and writing about food and eating can offer participants of all ages and most abilities the opportunity to delve into their own world of practice. Commonly used methods, like the individual interview and focus group, whilst suitable for studies of this kind, are not without their drawbacks. There are important ethical issues concerning children's privacy and their right not to reveal ‘too much’ to the researcher or their family. Innovative methods which deserve greater consideration include audio diaries, memory work/books, email interviews and interviews ‘on the move’. All offer the researcher the opportunity to build rapport with and collect narratives about food and eating from children and young people.
TL;DR: The National Muslim Women's Advisory Group (NMWAG) as mentioned in this paper brought together 19 British Muslim women to advise Government on ways to support women's empowerment in the UK, and was launched by the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
Abstract: Established in 2008 and launched by the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the National Muslim Women's Advisory Group (NMWAG) brought together 19 British Muslim women to advise Government on ways t...
TL;DR: In this article, an ethnographic study of a fishing community in the Philippines is presented, where the authors focus on the various nuances of maintaining access and rapport in one's own community and its ever-evolving economic and political conditions.
Abstract: 'Insider' researchers are generally conceived to have an epistemic privilege in the field over 'outsider' researchers, especially around the issues of gaining access and building rapport with research participants. However, access and rapport once secured must be continuously maintained and this poses several methodological challenges to the researcher. This can be a particular problem if the people being researched have an intimate knowledge of the researcher's life. This intimate knowledge can affect the maintenance of access and rapport with research participants, particularly in a small community characterised by insecure economic prospects and whose members' survival could be affected by the researcher's political experience. Based on an ethnographic study of a fishing community in the Philippines, this article is concerned with the various nuances of maintaining access and rapport in one's own community and its ever-evolving economic and political conditions, which then contribute to the shifting positionality of 'insider' researchers' status in the field.
TL;DR: The authors examined how middle-aged gay men are differentiated and negotiate relations in heterosexually defined spaces and found that the normativity of certain heterospaces could compel self-censoring/de-gaying of the self.
Abstract: Based on interviews with 27 gay men aged 39 - 61 living in Manchester, this article examines how middle-aged gay men are differentiated and negotiate relations in heterosexually defined spaces. I focus on what informants’ accounts of relations in these ‘heterospaces’ say about middle-aged gay men’s responses to homophobia. I argue that ‘ageing capital’ is implicated in subjects’ accounts that capitulate to, negotiate with and challenge heteronormativity. First, the normativity of certain heterospaces could compel self-censoring/‘de-gaying’ of the self. Middle-aged gay men were differentiated by others who claim greater legitimacy within them. Second, informants differentiated themselves through involvement with heterosexual friends from ghettoised ‘scene queens.’ This ambivalent claim to difference could deny inequality and reinforce homophobia. Third, the normativity of heterospaces was thought to offer freedom from the ageist gay gaze, allowing expression of more ‘authentic’ aspects of the midlife-aged self.
TL;DR: In the UK, the political, economic and social complexion of the policies currently being pursued by the UK government has been examined in the aftermath of the "credit crunch" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: At present something curious appears to be occurring in the UK in the aftermath of the ‘credit crunch’, with respect to the political, economic and social complexion of the policies currently being...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the social space of sport participation in Britain in order to provide a more detailed account of how these activities are organized and find that 19 sporting practices are situated along four key dimensi...
Abstract: Correlations between social class and sport participation have frequently been observed (Crook 1997; Ceron-Anaya 2010; Dollman and Lewis 2010; Stalsberg and Pedersen 2010). However, discrete associations between occupational class positions and specific sporting activities overlook the complex interrelationships amongst these sports. Until recently understanding the relationality of sport has been constrained by a lack of available and appropriate data. Work by Bourdieu (1984), and more recently Bennett et al. (2009), have explored the general field of cultural consumption and sport has been one dimension of these treatments. Using multiple correspondence analysis (Le Roux and Rouanet 2004), this research focuses upon the social space of sport participation in Britain in order to provide a more detailed account of how these activities are organised. From data in the Taking-Part Survey (n = 10,349), which was gathered between July 2005-October 2006, 19 sporting practices are situated along four key dimensi...
TL;DR: The responses to the English city riots of 2011 bear a remarkable resemblance to those of historical urban disorders in terms of the way in which they are framed by concerns over "moral decline" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The responses to the English city riots of 2011 bear a remarkable resemblance to those of historical urban disorders in terms of the way in which they are framed by concerns over “moral decline”, “...
TL;DR: The disintegration of the British National Party (BNP) has removed the threat of the party securing a place in the political mainstream in the UK as discussed by the authors. But, in coming close to this objective it has succ...
Abstract: The disintegration of the British National Party (BNP) has removed the threat of the party securing a place in the political mainstream in the UK. But, in coming close to this objective it has succ...
TL;DR: The authors explored the notion of the visual landscape of work from a sociological perspective and explored the ways in which spatial ideas underpin complex sociological notions of work practice and culture, using material from ongoing research into the former Guinness Brewery at Park Royal in London.
Abstract: This paper explores the notion of the visual landscape of work. Coming from a sociological perspective it attempts to view work, its meanings and the identities that surround it, through the lens of landscape. It takes on recent challenges to work sociology made by economic/labour geographers who argue that sociological understanding of employment are insufficiently spatial - space if used as a concept at all is reduced to the notion of a boundary containing economic processes rather than something that is constructed and in turn constructs work. Using material from ongoing research into the former Guinness Brewery at Park Royal in West London, and in particular a range of archival and contemporary visual sources, this paper illustrates the ways in which spatial ideas underpin complex sociological notions of work practice and culture. It will examine the way space is implicated in the location, construction, labour, and closing of this once famous brewery and how visual material helps to unlock theoretical and methodological understandings of work and industry.
TL;DR: In this paper, an intervention based on participatory analysis through participatory archiving is discussed, focusing on the idea of reusing, re-coding, and re-mixing visual data.
Abstract: Addressing the issue of HIV-stigma is recognised as essential to reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS, enabling community members to access prevention, treatment and care. Often the very people who are able to contribute to solving the problem, are marginalised and do not see ways to insert themselves into dialogues related to combating stigma. Community health workers in rural South Africa are one such group. At the heart of the research discussed in this article is an intervention based on participatory analysis through participatory archiving (Shilton and Srinivasan 2008). Drawing on participatory work with thirteen community health workers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, we use a digital archive containing HIV-stigma visual data - generated five years earlier by youth in the community - to engage the participants in the analysis. Drawing on such participatory work as Jenkins' participatory cultures framework, we focus on the idea of re-using, re-coding, and re-mixing visual data. One participant stated that "these pictures talk about the real issues faced by our communities", highlighting the value of resources generated by community members themselves. They also indicate that they "could use [the resources] to teach the cons of stigmatizing". A key concern in work related to visual images (particularly in projects such as ours where a large amount of visual data is produced) is to consider ways of extending its life through the use of community-based digital archives.
TL;DR: In this paper, a visual analysis of the work of a female erotic performer in a lesbian erotic dance venue in the UK is presented, with a particular focus on the "impression management" (Goffman 1959) enacted by dancers.
Abstract: This article analyses a range of different meanings attached to images of erotic dance, with a particular focus on the 'impression management' (Goffman 1959) enacted by dancers. It presents a visual analysis of the work of a female erotic performer in a lesbian erotic dance venue in the UK. Still photographs, along with observational data and interviews, convey the complexity and skill of an erotic dancer's diverse gendered and sexualised performances. The visual data highlights the extensive 'aesthetic labour' (Nickson et al. 2001) and 'emotional labour' (Hochschild 1983) the dancer must put in to constructing her work 'self'. However, a more ambitious use of the visual is identified: the dancer's own use of images of her work. This use of the visual by dancers themselves highlights a more complex 'impression management' strategy undertaken by a dancer and brings into question the separation of 'real' and 'work' 'selves' in erotic dance. © Sociological Research Online, 1996-2012.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the alienation of young people today cannot be separated from forms of social, economic, social and political marginalization. But they do not argue that these forms of marginalisation can explain the recent riots in London.
Abstract: Sudden explosions of street violence and disorder tend to evoke simplistic responses. Echoing Victorian moralising and condemnation of urban street fighting at the end of the nineteenth century, politicians depicted England's August 2011 riots as ‘mindless criminality’. Critical of such rhetoric, we maintain that the recent riots should not be misrecognised through the class politics of the advantaged. Instead, we locate this unrest in a larger historical, social, economic and political context. This context includes the progressive predominance of finance capital in the post-1970s era and related neoliberal policy agendas and ideological forms. We posit that neoliberal transformations in the economy and society have undermined many young people's capacity to lead useful and meaningful lives, and that the potential for hopelessness, resentment, frustration and outbursts of anger has significantly increased as a consequence. We argue that the alienation of young people today cannot be separated from forms ...