Research projects

Overview This project utilised a mixed methods approach, combining a strategic review of existing survey data with ethnographic observation and interviews to make a timely and original contribution to understanding the benefits of ‘serious leisure’ in retirement for the individual and for the wider communities of which they are part.   In order to address the stipulated…

‘The Global Countryside: Rural Change and Development in Globalization (GLOBAL-RURAL)’ was a major research project funded by the European Research Council. The study aimed to advance our understanding of the workings and impact of globalization in rural regions through the development and application of new conceptual and methodological approaches. Globalization has a pervasive influence in transforming…

The Centre for Welsh Politics and Society / WISERD@Aberystwyth aims to use research on Welsh politics and society, comparative studies of Wales and other nations and regions, and analyses of Wales’s global connections, to make internationally-significant cutting-edge contributions to social science theories, debates and literature. Our research is organized around three key themes: Global Connections…

Overview ‘The Global Countryside: Rural Change and Development in Globalization (GLOBAL-RURAL)’ is a major research project funded by the European Research Council. The study aims to advance our understanding of the workings and impact of globalization in rural regions through the development and application of new conceptual and methodological approaches. Globalization has a pervasive influence in…

Behaviour change is a topic which is of key importance to policy makers both in the Welsh Government and further afield. Behaviour change also emerged as a key theme during the WISERD localities stakeholder interviews and the subsequent stakeholder feedback sessions have indicated that a range of 3rd sector stakeholders in Wales are engaging with the…

This project sought to problematise homogenising narratives of older people as predominately ‘static’ and ‘passive’, and therefore somehow less implicated in wider social and economic networks; perceptions compounded by the context of rural peripherality. While older people’s experiences may offer insights into the changing historical shape of communities, it is also vital to understand how older…

Overview This project was a joint venture with the Institute of Education, Centre for Longitudinal Studies and the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-cultural change (Manchester University). The main study, funded by ESRC, undertook 180 qualitative interviews with cohort members of the 1958 National Child Development Study. In the first stage of the project WISERD…