Pioneering Social Research Life Stories of a Generation: Life Stories of a Generation

Presenting the landmark pioneers' life stories project, this book documents how modern social research in the United Kingdom was shaped. It sheds new light on the lives, methods and motivations of men and women who helped develop a new world of research methodology, pioneered feminist research, and first confronted the issues of race and ethnicity. Many of the pioneers' lives were shaped by the declining decades of the British Empire, and the book begins by highlighting the experiences and practices of the generations who were active from the 1950s to the 1980s, the crucial founding generations for today's social research scene. These were the decades which saw the final phase of colonial anthropology, the explosive growth of sociology in universities, and then the founding of theme-based women's, ethnic and cultural studies and the development of ethical practices and systematic methodologies. The book combines the fascinating history of the generations who built outstanding and influential social research with providing a major resource for current research and especially for methods for future teaching. Front Cover Pioneering Social Research Life Stories of a Generation: Life Stories of a Generation Copyright information Table of contents List of abbreviations Authorship Acknowledgments Finding and using the pioneers' interviews Chapter 1 Introduction: the pioneers of social research study Who was interviewed? Interpreting the interviews Voices 1 Moments of discovery Meghnad Lord Desai: economists don’t do fieldwork Stan Cohen: social marginality in racist South Africa Claus Lord Moser: learning statistics as an alien internee George Brown: suicide in the family Peter Loizos: first visit to Cyprus to meet his father’s family Ken Plummer: coming out and coming out stories Mary Douglas on dirt Ann Oakley: ‘What I am doing is work’ John Bynner: the Bristol Student Union – research making an impact Sir David Butler: on to electoral television Ruth Finnegan: listening and watching for hidden meanings Sir Jack Goody: the culture of flowers Peter Townsend: a bath attendant in an old people’s home Chapter 2 Life stories: biography and creativity The influence of childhood communities Social mobility Family relationships Secondary schooling Gender in education Before university, and the wartime gap Marriage and divorce Parenting and grandparenting Family, social change and careers Voices 2 Beginnings Childhood: class and Empire Dennis Marsden: family and the complexities of English social class Janet Finch: a very female family David Butler: deep academic roots Pat Caplan: foreign travel in the family Stuart Hall: colour, class and family in Jamaica Opening minds Pat Caplan: writing and speaking in the family John Bynner: pulled between intellectual perspectives George Brown: bookshops as an intellectual opening Mary Douglas: schools, hierarchy and doctrine Michael Young: the fostering of individual creativity – Dartington Partnership and marriage Hilary Rose: misogyny in biology’s research culture Mary Douglas: marriage and writing – James Douglas Chapter 3 Contexts: Empire, politics and culture Research under colonial conditions Times of war Shifting politics and professionalisms Post-war reconstruction and the rise of the welfare state The spirit of 1968 Encountering gender Cultural studies, migration and Thatcherism Transnational and intersectional times Voices 3 Old boundaries, new thoughts Empire and war Jack Goody’s journey to colonial Ghana W. M. Williams: diverse experiences in military service New visions: books of the time Robert Moore on Street Corner Society David Hargreaves on Erving Goffman Daniel Bertaux on Oscar Lewis Chapter 4 Organising: creating research worlds Expanding universities and shifting disciplines Research agencies Political and Economic Planning and the Institute of Community Studies Central Statistical Office Social Science Research Council and UK Data Archive Academic centres Medical sociology at Aberdeen and methods at Surrey Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies One-off projects and community studies The two Banbury Studies The Affluent Worker The high moment of community studies and beyond National surveys and evolving quantitative analysis The rise of longitudinal studies Voices 4 Old and new trends Difficulties in community studies Colin Bell and Margaret Stacey on the Banbury Studies Duncan Gallie: The Social Change and Economic Life Initiative Computers come to social research Harvey Goldstein: London University’s first computer – the young and the old react Elizabeth Thomas-Hope: computing at Penn State, US, late 1960s Sara Arber: SPSS at Ann Arbor1 Harvey Goldstein: multi-level modelling The rise of longitudinal studies John Bynner: the transformation of analysis Chapter 5 Fighting or mixing: quantitative and qualitative research Voices 5 Into the field Raymond Firth’s voyage to Tikopia W. M. Williams comes to his English village, Gosforth Chapter 6 Fieldwork: making methods Perpetual change: a very brief history of fieldwork Starting out: messy beginnings Diverse fieldwork styles: getting started Some emerging challenges Voices 6 On the margins Maxine Molyneux: fear in Afghanistan Avtar Brah: the struggle in academia Chapter 7 Social divisions: class, gender, ethnicity – and more Researching social class Researching gender Researching ethnicity Disability, ageing, sexuality Voices 7 Reflections for the future Michael Young: an overview Peter Townsend: on sociology, anthropology and direct observation Frank Bechhofer: on The Affluent Worker research design Sandra Wallman: on the need to problematise the normal Paul Thompson: on choices in interpreting life stories Raymond T. Smith: is fieldwork different when you are with a child? Colin Bell: on the merits of gossip in fieldwork Janet Finch: on handling gender issues in interviews Harry Goulbourne: on dealing with antagonistic viewpoints George Brown: on research as sculpture Pat Caplan on giving back to the community: website and film Chapter 8 Conclusion: what can we learn? The research process Chapter 9 Epilogue Notes Further reading The wider context Particular trails Other auto/biographical sources Twenty-five books from the Pioneers Biographical summaries Index Back Cover Presenting the landmark Pioneers life stories project, this one-of-a-kind book documents how modern social research in the UK was shaped. It sheds new light on the lives, methods and motivations of men and women who helped develop a new world of research methodology, pioneered feminist research, and first confronted the issues of race and ethnicity. It combines a fascinating history of the generations who built outstanding and influential social research with a valuable resource for future research and teaching on methods.|Presenting the landmark Pioneers life stories project, this one-of-a-kind book documents how modern social research in the UK was shaped. It sheds new light on the lives, methods and motivations of men and women who helped develop a new world of research methodology, pioneered feminist research, and first confronted the issues of race and ethnicity. It combines a fascinating history of the generations who built outstanding and influential social research with a valuable resource for future research and teaching on methods.

Presenting the landmark Pioneers life stories project, this one-of-a-kind book documents how modern social research in the UK was shaped. It sheds new light on the lives, methods and motivations of men and women who helped develop a new world of research methodology, pioneered feminist research, and first confronted the issues of race and ethnicity. It combines a fascinating history of the generations who built outstanding and influential social research with a valuable resource for future research and teaching on methods.

Presenting The Landmark Pioneers Life Stories Project, This One-of-a-kind Book Documents How Modern Social Research In The Uk Was Shaped. It Combines The Fascinating History Of Generations Who Built Outstanding And Influential Social Research With Providing A Major Resource For Current Research And - Especially For Methods - For Future Teaching. Pioneering social research features a selection of interviews with some of the major luminaries of contemporary social science, including Ann Oakley and Peter Townsend.The book draws together key themes arising from the interviews and looks at what can be learnt about research and society from the biographical accounts.