Research careers in different contextsAlun Humphrey

8 July 2014

22

Career history

City University Business School

BSc Business Studies

Research Services Ltd (RSL) / Ipsos-RSL

Commercial Market Research

NatCen Social Research

Social Research

33

NatCen Social Research

Independent research institute

Not-for-profit

Social policy research

Data in public domain

Quantitative surveys

Qualitative studies

Evaluations

Questionnaire design and development

Analysis and reporting

55

NatCen Social Research

English Housing Survey

National Travel Survey

66

Commercial market research & social research

Social research….

Data publicly available

Random sampling

Slower turnaround

Larger projects

More detailed data validation

More detailed analysis

77

Why social research?

Aims to benefit society

Methodological rigour

88

Working in social researchQualifications

Degree Ideally a research methods element

Experience

Public policy

Research

Skills (more important!)

Interest in policy research

Communication

Project management

Attention to detail

Enthusiasm!