Part Time (0.4FTE) Fixed Term for 24 Months
Applications are sought for part-time (0.4) Research Fellow to take a leading role in a major two year Nuffield Foundation funded comparative study entitled 'Identifying and understanding inequalities in child welfare intervention rates: comparative studies in four UK countries', based in the Centre for Communities and Social Justice (CCSJ) at Coventry University.
The CCSJ is a new research Centre which is part of Coventry University's strategic investment in developing research capacity. The CCSJ aims to bring together and develop the synergies that exist between various strands of the social sciences. The Centre comprises academics and practitioners from the fields of international studies, politics, social geography, sociology, social work, social policy and social justice. The Centre will provide informed solutions to current societal concerns as well as seek to identify future societal issues and set research and policy agendas. It emphasises four key strategic areas that are major social issues in society worldwide: identity, inequality, community/locality and life course.
The underlying purpose of the Nuffield funded project is to contribute to a fundamental shift in policy and practice for children's services in the UK and internationally. It is designed to create the methodological and theoretical building blocks for subsequent programmes of research on child welfare systems, processes and outcomes. The Research Fellow will work under the leadership of Professor Paul Bywaters in a large senior research team based in 7 major UK universities (including Cardiff, Queen's Belfast, Edinburgh, Nottingham, the Open University and Stirling). The project will take the methods developed in the pilot study (www.coventry.ac.uk/child-welfare-inequalities) and apply them to the analysis of the child welfare systems in each of the four UK countries. In addition to the quantitative work, mixed methods case studies will explore ways of understanding the findings. The RF based on Coventry will be responsible for managing and executing the quantitative study in England, with statistical support, and for carrying out the comparative analysis. The successful applicant will have a PhD, be experienced in quantitative research and have proven project management skills. A background in a variety of subjects may be relevant including social work, social policy, health inequalities and epidemiology, or educational inequalities. Expertise in quantitative methods and either children's services or social inequalities is a minimum requirement.
The post is part time (0.4 FTE) and fixed term from April 1st 2015 to March 31st 2017. Opportunities to extend the RF contract through involvement in other CCSJ projects will be promoted and applications for external funding for other relevant projects will be strongly supported.
For more information and informal discussion contact Professor Paul Bywaters (P.Bywaters@coventry.ac.uk) or Dr. Geraldine Brady (G.Brady@coventry.ac.uk).
To apply, please visit the Coventry University Online Recruitment page at www.coventry.ac.uk
The closing date for the applications is 12th January 2015.
Interviews are expected to be held on 26th January 2015.
Click here to view job description and person specification