Research projects

This network is aimed at academics engaged in inter-disciplinary and/or multi-disciplinary well-being research and its promotion across policy, and in statutory and non-statutory practice-based contexts. The network seeks to champion well-being research from various disciplines, including, social and political philosophy, social policy, sociology, economics, social geography, political science, psychology, and health. It is also aimed at…

The Cultural Participation Research Network was established in June 2017 with help from Cardiff University’s Strong Communities, Healthier People Flagship Engagement Project led by Dr Eva Elliott. The network brought together a range of individuals and organisations in Wales and developed a programme of research around cultural participation and what it meant for communities, culture, policy and government…

Overview This project utilised a range of econometric techniques to investigate the nature of the relationship between the domains of individual subjective wellbeing, individual and household characteristics, work/life circumstances, and a range of indicators related to the measurement of social cohesion and civil society. The main UK data sets used by the WP included: Understanding…

Overview This project builds on previous research undertaken by the team. It will utilise a mixed methods approach, combining secondary analysis of existing datasets, development of case studies, documentary analysis and a series of interviews to investigate the impact of Faith-Based welfare provision on social cohesion. The project will proceed using a mixed methods design…

Overview This project builds on previous WISERD research into geographical variations in trade union membership in Wales. (Beynon, Davies and Davies, 2012). The research programme derives from this analysis, which suggested that in South Wales collective understandings, rooted in an earlier period of unionisation, are spilling over into the contemporary period. This work was supported…

Funding: £343,384.25 This Engagement project will build on a legacy of social science informed community-based research over the last 10 years in two of the Welsh Government’s Communities First Clusters.  The aim is to build on these past and current research projects and programmes to develop and pilot a sustainable model of collaborative research, education, engagement,…

Overview: This longitudinal cohort study, using a mixed methods approach, focuses on the potential for living well with dementia from the perspective of people with dementia and their primary carers. By living well, we mean maximising life satisfaction, reaching one’s potential for well-being, and experiencing the best possible quality of life in the context of…

Funding: £1.5 million The Project is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Communities, Cultures, Health and Wellbeing Research Grant. The aim of this project was to establish how community representations produced through creative arts practices (e.g. story-telling, performance, visual art) can be used as forms of evidence to inform health-related policy and service development….

Overview Community engagement needs radical re-design. All too often decision-making is top-down and decision makers do not adequately engage, deeming ‘community engagement’ a passive exercise. Communities are often only invited to comment on decisions which have already been made. This leaves isolated and excluded communities feeling even more powerless, adding to the dislocation between politicians…

Overview This project was aimed at improving the linkages between research evidence and policy development in Wales (and elsewhere). It was based on a partnership between WISERD and the Welsh Government (WG); and involved the development of four Evidence Symposia, each of which focused on a key policy theme. Each Symposium brought together leading researchers…

Overview Working in partnership across Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities and funded by the NISCHR, the All Wales Academic Social Care Research Collaboration (ASCC) sought to strengthen the capacity of HEIs and their partner agencies to deliver on an agreed and prioritised research agenda to respond to national and local needs. The three regional teams contributed to…

Overview The research sought to directly address the NIHR commissioning brief by firstly developing a new method of measuring alcohol outlet density in Wales using Geographical Information System (GIS) methods which include a more realistic and robust measure of population accessibility to alcohol outlets than previously published methods. It would obtain data on alcohol outlets from the…

This project aimed to provide new understandings of the dynamic relationship between the generations in Welsh-English bilingual families in Wales. In particular, the research considered how the experience and enactment of relationships associated with being a grandparent were shaped by the practices and identities derived from using Welsh. A survey and qualitative research was carried out…

Description This Council-led research project explored the multiple needs and risk factors presented by the rough sleeper population on Anglesey, and the extent to which these needs are matched by the current services provided by voluntary, private, and public sector organisations. The project specifically investigated whether there was sufficient local need to justify extending the…

Description This project examined the role of a new kind of institutional actor in crime and disorder reduction, the ‘night-time economy co-ordinator’ (NTEC), appointed in Swansea and funded out of the Home Office Tackling Violent Crime Programme. The NTEC was appointed specifically to inform and co-ordinate responses to alcohol-related violence at night in the city centre…