Publications

This report examines Annual Population Survey (APS) data containing new questions on Subjective Wellbeing (SWB). It focuses on comparisons between variations in SWB across countries of the UK and areas within Wales, as well as how SWB varies by demographic sub-groups within Wales. In particular, it identifies groups of individuals and areas within Wales where…

Despite continued efforts through improved levels of investment in infrastructure and education, Wales continues to trail behind the rest of the UK in terms of productivity performance. In this paper we review recent trends and present firm-level findings that suggest that the Priority Sectors first identified by the Welsh Government’s latest economic plan have little…

It is now five years since Sheller and Urry (2006) published their summation of an emergence across the social sciences of the ‘new mobilities paradigm’. Sheller and Urry posited then that a form of interdisciplinary convergence was occurring centring on interests with mobility. Research that took mobility as its object and topic, they argued, had demonstrated that…

Attendees were welcomed and introduced themselves. It was explained that this event wasthe first of a series co-funded by the ESRC, to be held in collaboration with the WalesInstitute for Social and Economic Research, Data & Method (WISERD). The aim of theseevents will be to facilitate a regular and genuine dialogue between policy makers andpractitioners.

The Wales Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) is an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional academic research group based in Wales, UK. One of the key objectives of WISERD is to develop a spatial framework that enhances a researcher’s ability to discover socio-economic research data relating to Wales with the aim of encouraging collaborative research and…

A large body of research has examined relationships between accessibility to green space and a variety of health outcomes with many researchers finding benefits in terms of levels of physical activity and relationships with levels of obesity, mental health, and other health conditions. Such studies often use spatial analytical techniques to examine relationships between distance…

WISERD Qualitative Research Issue 14 contains: Reflections on the craft(ing) of qualitative research – Robin Smith Local music practices and the cultural economy: three spaces of research – Darren Roberts Reading the researcher’s body – Morgan Windram-Geddes Beyond tagging, poking and throwing sheep: Using Facebook in social research – Gareth Thomas Transcription as a ‘research…

It has become somewhat of a truism that qualitative research, and particularly fieldwork, cannot be taught but is best learnt in practice, out there, in the field. This can likely be traced to the early days of the Chicago School where students were sent out to study a tract of the census, or neighbourhood, at…

Over the past decade there have been a number of calls from across the social sciences to engage music as both the object of study and a tool for research (cf. Revill, 2000; Connell and Gibson, 2003; Wood et al., 2007). These calls come at time when major shifts in technology and cultural economic policy…

This paper draws from a qualitative PhD study in Central Scotland to focus on research participants’ interpretations of my (the researcher’s) body. The research investigated the embodied experiences of health among girls aged 10-14 (P6-S4)1, through discursive spaces of schoolbased physical activity. In three Scottish secondary schools, participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with…