Welcome to the Fair.....
Hello Everyone,
We are so happy to be welcoming you to the 2023 Methods Fair! I’d like to introduce the Methods@Manchester team. We have myself, Emma Banister, I am the Director of M@M, and Wes Hundschied who is the M@M administrator. Together we have organised the Fair and will be around on the day to chat to you and answer any questions.
We are very much looking forward to listening to your talks, seeing your posters, and discussing all things methods with you, alongside our speakers and workshop leads. If you haven't yet registered for the fair please ensure you do so here as we need accurate numbers for scheduling and catering (if you can no longer attend for some reason please email us at methods@manchester.ac.uk to cancel your place).
Given the continued global challenges that are being faced and the impact this can have on our approach to research, this year's Methods Fair conference takes 'Research in Times of Adversity' as its overarching theme.
Our programme begins with a keynote by Professor Kathy Hamilton in collaboration with Professor Maria Piacentini as they reflect back over the challenges of the last few years and explore what lasting impact the pandemic may have had on academic identities and how these may be confronted, calling for a more ‘caring’ approach. Please note there is a pre-event PGR workshop to accompany this key note. Numbers are strictly limited, please see here for further details and sign up.
We then move to your presentations. These have been organised as five-minute lightning talks. Please do be prepared for us to be very strict with timing as we want to give everyone an equal opportunity. These have been organised in clusters which will each be followed by a brief Q&A session. The idea is that there will also be plenty of opportunity for you to follow up with presenters during the breaks/extended networking lunch break.
Over our extended lunch break we have networking and poster presentations. Please make sure you circulate and talk to those who have produced posters who are asked to stand by their posters for at least half-an-hour during the lunch break.
In the afternoon we have a selection of workshop sessions. Unfortunately it will not be possible for you to attend all workshops, so we will be asking you to indicate your your preferred two workshops and we will endeavour to schedule these in such a way that allows you to attend at least one of these choices (see further down in this programme for further details on these workshop and sign-up information).
Finally, but perhaps most importantly we want to give you a chance to have your say about Methods@Manchester. We will be circulating a feedback survey to all attendees in order to capture your views about the Methods Fair. We also want to encourage you to contribute ideas about what you would like to see from the Fair in the future. We have a brief session at the end of the day where you can make suggestions and/or let us know if you are happy to be involved in future discussions about Methods@Manchester. Of course please do always feel free to contact us with any ideas/suggestions on methods@manchester.ac.uk
We look forward to welcoming you on the 26th May!
The Programme
All sessions take place on the 3rd floor of Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), which can be found on Booth Street West, Manchester M15 6PB and is building number 29 on the campus map.
Schedule at a glance:
- 9.00am - 9.30am - Registration - The Hive, 3rd Floor
- 9.30am - 10.30am - Welcome Talk and Keynote Speech - Room 2.008
- 10.30am - 11.00am - Break - The Hive, 3rd Floor
- 11.00am - 12.30pm - Lightning Talks - Rooms 3.013 & 3.014
- 12.30pm - 2.00pm - Lunch & Poster Presentations - The Hive, 3rd Floor
- 2.00pm - 4.30pm - Workshops - See workshop details below for room numbers (the afternoon session will also include a break in The Hive, 3rd Floor)
- 4.30pm - 5.00pm - Concluding Discussion - Room 3.013
Keynote talk: 9.30am - 10.30am, Room 2.008
Following a brief welcome and introduction by Professor Emma Banister (Director of Methods@Manchester), Professor Kathy Hamilton (Strathclyde) in collaboration with Professor Maria Piacentini (Lancaster) will deliver a keynote discussing a recent collaborative project focused on embedding an ethics of care approach into academic work.
Their practical application of an ethics of care approach took place during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and in this keynote they plan to reflect on the development of a collaborative poem with ten other academics, supported by a professional facilitator/poet.
This 'web of words' helped to blur hierarchies and boundaries of participants, supported the development of care in collaboration and was experienced as transformative by those contributing. During the presentation they will reflect on the use of poetry and the wider potential for arts-based methods to provide alternative means of engaging with, and representing, those involved in our research projects.
Lightning Talks: 11.00am - 12.30pm
We have an exciting programme of lightning talks lined up. Each presenter will be allocated five minutes for their talk and this will be followed by brief Q&A following each group of presentations.
We will be strict with timing in order to ensure everyone gets their turn and to allow some time for questions. Talks are organised into two streams and the order/groupings below will give approximate timings (but this may change on the day). If you are presenting please ensure that you are in your stream for the full session.
Stream 1, Room 3.013, AMBS
11.00am - 11.30am
- Mapping Climate Change in Latin American archives: a methodological proposal - Claudio Ogass Bilbao – University of Liverpool
- Methodological Approaches to Medieval Ethnicities: the case of the Lombards in South Italy - William Curtis – University of Manchester
- Integrating narrative data using agent-based simulation in socio-environmental situations - Bruce Edmonds – Manchester Metropolitan University
11.30am - 12.00pm
- Evidence Mapping: An alternative to Systematic Review in Multidisciplinary Studies - Ghaydaa Hemediah – University of Manchester
- Reliance on scientific literature from green technologies (patent data) - An Yu Chen – University of Manchester
- The Double Edge Sword of Proactive Entrepreneurial Leader: Can I Keep My Team Happy? - Galih Sakitri – University of Manchester
- Applying Causal Inference Methods to examine Forest-Poverty nexus - Dhanapal Govindarajulu – University of Manchester
12.00pm - 12.30pm
- Evaluating the Impact of the End of Free Movement (Brexit) on Inflows of International Students into UK Universities using Difference-in-Differences (DiD) - Ruth Neville – Universtiy of Liverpool
- Spatial/Community Analysis of School Attendance - Martin Burroughs – Oldham Council
- Public opinions on the Double Reduction policy based on Chinese socia media and corresponding social-justice implications - Sini Wu - University of Manchester
- Expanding the use of legal epidemiology - Suzanne Farg - University of Manchester
Stream 2, Room 3.014, AMBS
11.00am - 11.30am room details
- Considering Collaboration: Lessons from the Pathways to Work for Muslim Women project - Asma Khan – Cardiff University
- ‘Which language do you prefer? English or Mandarin Chinese?’ The relationship between interviewees’ language choices and positionings in interviews - Qing Qiu – University of Manchester
- Navigating Ubuntu in London: How place, race and political grace affect African Adolescent Refugees Mental Health and Identity Development - Esther Omotola Ayoola - University of Brighton
11.30am - 12.00pm
- Going back there? Navigating ethical dilemmas in over-researched communities - Anifat Ibrahim - University of Manchester
- Navigating fieldwork with organisations in the context of hybrid working practices: reflections on access and recruitment from a doctoral study with children’s safeguarding social workers – Josh Devlin - University of Manchester
- Manchester Patch Test: An anti-ageing product testing protocol - Bezaleel Mambwe, Lindsay Cotterell, Rachel Watson & Abigail Langton - University of Manchester
12.00pm - 12.30pm
- The Walkthrough Method: Encountering Digital Research in the Digital Age - Xinyi (Ernestina) Zhu - University of Manchester
- Using Twitter data to analyse the spatial patterns of online anti-immigration sentiment in the UK - Matt Mason - University of Liverpool
- Utilising digital footprint in mental health research: prevention and surveillance - Lana Bojanic - University of Manchester
- Researching wellbeing during COVID-19: Prioritising participant wellbeing through online research methods - Charlotte Hoyland - University of Manchester
Lunch, networking and Posters: 12.30pm - 2.00pm, The Hive, 3rd floor, AMBS
During our extended networking lunch break, attendees' posters will be displayed. We ask that all those who are presenting their work via a poster stand by their poster for at least half an hour to allow sufficient opportunity for attendees to discuss their work.
Lunch will be buffet style and vegan. Rather than all queuing at once, why not take some time to circulate and view the posters? Food will be available for the full lunch break.
Poster details
- Non-Fictional, Filmed Monologue Vignettes (FVM’s): A Novel Medium in Domestic Violence Research - Mags Conroy - Lancaster University
- Group-based trajectory modelling to examine frailty trajectories before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study protocol - Schenelle Dlima - University of Manchester
- Weather walks: situating climate change - Joanna Hayes - University of Liverpool
- Caring for others and caring for ourselves: Reflections on the role of the researcher during times of adversity - Charlotte Hoyland - University of Manchester
- Ethics for Participatory Theatre as Research - Katarzyna Niziołek - University of Białystok
- Ethnovolcanology: outlining the ethnography of inhabited volcanoes in times of quiescence and crisis - Francisca Vergara-Pinto - University of Manchester
- Artificial Intelligence, environmental friend or foe? Exploring the impact of AI technologies on environmental technological innovation from the patent perspective - Xinger Wei - University of Manchester
- Economic Growth and Public Spending Shocks: Asymmetric Analysis through Non-linear Autoregressive Distributive Lag (NARDL) Approach - Arfan Winasis - University of Manchester
Workshops 2.00pm - 4.30pm
We have an exciting range of workshops.
- Decolonising the Museum as a Praxis: Truth Telling through Community Engagement - Dr Njabulo Chipangura, Curator of Living Cultures, Manchester Museum
- Archival research in times of adversity - Dr Alex Buchanan, Reader in Archive Studies, Liverpool University
- Engaging with our Communities: Doing Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector - Dr Susanne Martikke - Researcher, GMCVO & Dr Simon Armour, Public Health Programme Manager, Stockport Council
- Octopus a new way of publishing research 'as it happens' - Tim Fellows, project manager, Octopus
- A demonstration and workshop featuring the Data Visualisation Observatory
You will find further details for each of these workshops (along with rooms) below:
Decolonising the Museum as a Praxis - Truth Telling through Community Engagement, Room 3.013, AMBS
Dr Njabulo Chipangura, Curator of Living Cultures, Manchester Museum, will be running a session looking into the following questions.
- What is provenance research?
- What methodologies can be used in undertaking provenance research?
- What is social biographical research?
- Why provenance and biographical research?
- Is provenance research collaborative?
- What is truth telling and open disclosure?
- Is Co-production/Co-curatorship as a function of provenance research?
This workshop will run from 2-4.30pm (incorporating a half hour break)
Engaging with our Communities: Doing Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector, Room 3.014, AMBS
Dr Simon Armour and Dr Susanne Martikke will draw on their own experiences of doing academic and practitioner research to help participants reflect on the differences between these two types of research. Using a mix of group discussions and presentations, the session will outline what to consider when doing research in VCSE organisations.
This workshop will run from 2-4.30pm (incorporating a half hour break)
Archival research in times of adversity, Room 3.015, AMBS
This session, led by Dr Alex Buchanan, is intended for researchers in any discipline wanting to use archival materials as part of their research. It will be suitable both for those familiar with archival materials (specifically historians) and those just setting out in this area and will consider the following questions:
- What are archives and how do they differ from other data sources (particularly published materials and museum objects)?
- How can we find archive materials relevant to our research?
- Using archives in times of adversity (making best use of limited time, making best use of the archivists, using online resources, ‘slow’ archival research, crowdsourcing)
The first half of the workshop will consider the above questions and introduce a number of resources which attendees can explore – bring along your own internet-enabled device if you want to look things up on in real time (the session will also be useful for those unable to to this). The second half of the session will be organised in such a way that there is space to engage directly around questions of specific interest to the specific audience members.
This workshop will run from 2-4.30pm (incorporating a half hour break)
Octopus - Creating a new primary research record, Room 3.006a, AMBS
Tim Fellows, product manager at Jisc, will be bringing a new service Octopus to the Methods Fair.
Octopus is an open-access, entirely free publishing platform funded by UKRI that attempts to promote best practice in research by moving away from the concept of a traditional research paper. Octopus allows researchers to publish incrementally as their project progresses, using publication types that mirror the research process (e.g. research problem, hypothesis, method, etc.).
This approach, combined with a focus upon quality metrics and full dissemination of the facts rather than on impact and narrative, serves to promote best practice and reproducibility by allowing researchers to get feedback on their approach as a project progresses.
In this session, Tim will discuss some of the problems with the established publishing model and how Octopus seeks to solve them by espousing the principles of open science, as well as how Octopus can connect to existing and future Open Science infrastructure and services. Whilst the platform is live and ready for researchers to use, we want the further development of the platform to be community driven, are therefore looking for opportunities to get feedback from current researchers, library staff, and those working at all stages of the research lifecycle.
This workshop will run twice (2-3pm and 3.30-4pm)
Data Visualisation Observatory
DVO is situated at the top of the main staircase (2nd floor) on the left-hand side, entrance to the room opposite 2.091 (door has intercom fitted)
In this special session you will receive a tour of this exciting research facility, a demonstration and introduction to some of the Observatory's potential uses for research.
This session will run twice (2-3pm and 3.30-4pm)
Numbers strictly limited (so please sign up at registration).
Concluding Discussion: 4.30pm - 5.00pm
The final session will be YOUR opportunity to get involved. We are interested in your feedback on the fair and your wider thoughts and ideas for Methods@Manchester.
There will be the opportunity for you to register your interest to be involved in a PGR advisory group for Methods@Manchester, an opportunity for you to help shape what we do and how we involve the PGR community. If you can't make the last session but you are interested in being involved please email methods@manchester.ac.uk
Volunteering
Finally, we are looking for PGRs to help out during the day. This could be helping to chair a lightning talk session, providing support (if needed) to workshop leads, and helping in other ways which assist with the smooth running of the day. If you are specifically interesting in helping chair the lightning talks please do indicate the stream with which you have most interest (if you are also presenting it would need to be the stream within which you are presenting). Please email methods@manchester.ac.uk to register your interest. All volunteers will receive a voucher in gratitude for their efforts.
Thank you and we look forward to meeting you at the Methods Fair, Emma & Wes
Credits:
Created with images by Markus Mainka - "Many young people talking saying multicultural speech bubble bubbles copyspace copy space" • Blue Planet Studio - "Top view of businessman executive in group meeting with other businessmen and businesswomen in modern office with laptop computer, coffee and document on table. People corporate business team concept."