Research Projects
Civil Society
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
WISERD analysed turnout data for the 2011 NAW elections and produced a report for the Electoral Commission.
Borders, boundary mechanisms and migration examines factors shaping civil society engagement with migration and forms of bordering through comparative international case studies and place-based ethnographies, and explores how social boundary activation mechanisms are
Overview This project utilised a mixed-methods design incorporating interviews, focus groups, a scoping analysis of secondary quantitative data and a cross-national survey to explore the role of trust and transparency within the context of multi-level governance. The core
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
Children and young people’s rights: formal and informal constructions of citizenship utilises an international comparison of the civic expansion of children’s rights in four Western countries (including Wales), and how this can rebalance the civic deficits associated with
Led by Professor Paul Chaney, this international project links with Professor Nasir Uddin of the University of Chittagong, a leading international scholar on the Rohingyas. This new collaboration aligns with the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) call for new research on
Civil society, and place-based strategies for sustainable development undertakes regional policy studies in Wales, UK and Europe and action research in specific foundational sectors. Drawing on place-based social innovation approaches, it considers to what extent regional
Overview As a part of the development process for the Connected Communities programme, the AHRC supported research reviews in 2011 to address a wide range of underpinning issues. The aim of these reviews was to: stimulate debate and provide some early outputs from the
Researchers from the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods, Swansea University, Cardiff University, and the University of Glamorgan will conduct a systematic research review in order to gain an understanding of the impact of Information and
A WISERD research team comprising Professor Paul Chaney, Dr Christala Sophocleous and Professor Daniel Wincott has worked with Wales Council for Voluntary Organisations (WCVA) and The National Library of Wales to create a historically significant digital archive of the Annual Reports of WCVA and its predecessor organisations. We are delighted to make this resource publicly and freely available to social historians, researchers and the generally curious.
Overview The project used interviews and questionnaires to investigate the types of civic participation and conceptions of language and identity promoted within the statutory education system, and within civil society organisations working with young people, in both Wales
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
The 3Gs Development Trust is a community regeneration organisation serving deprived areas in Merthyr Tydfil. During the summer of 2010 the trust, with the support of WISERD, carried out the Evaluation of Rock project. This four week project was focused on evaluating the
Environmental controversies are often about knowledge and expertise as much as they are about politics, rights and life chances. The reason is that the evidence produced by the different groups involved is often part of the controversy, with disputes over what is known and
This multidisciplinary research network project is jointly hosted by WISERD and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. It is funded under a Global Challenge Research Fund award from the Academy of Medical Sciences. The Principal Investigators are Professor Paul
Foundational economy, citizenship and new forms of common ownership explores place-based solutions and experiments with social mechanisms and new institutional forms that provide the material basis for citizenship. It looks at how Foundational Economy approaches can promote
Overview This project undertook a programme of quantitative data analysis, using the prism of ageing, to address the effects of and responses to nascent globalization for civil society and social participation at national and local levels. This work package comprised a
Overview This project explored the relationships between participation in higher education and engagement in civil society, especially at the local level. Do university graduates play a distinctive role in the institutions of civil society? More specifically, it examined the
Identity and civic divides in the UK examines the relationship between different forms of identity (disability, sexuality, religion) and political participation and wellbeing. It explores whether identity groups experience differential abilities to exercise rights, and