Current Members:

Academic Members

Sara Arber, Martin Bulmer, Kate Burningham, Ann Cronin, David Frohlich (DWRC), Sarah Earthy, Paul Hodkinson, Paul Johnson, Robert Meadows, Jo Moran-Ellis, Katharine Tyler

Research staff

Tom Daly, Judith Sleney, Susan Venn

Research Students

Lorraine Allibone, Richard Antony, Rajaa Al-Gahatany, Paula Aubrey, Jo Belcher, Amanda Blood,  Stella Chatzitheochari, Alexandra Concev, Gagan Dhal, Andrea Darling, Charles Leddy-Owen, Ewa Lesiak, Helen Lewis, Helen Moore, Lloyd Morgan, Colin Norris, Dominic Adeiza Omoh, Seham Salamah, Sophie Sarre, Alexia Scherer, Toni Schwarz, Judith Sleney, Neil Sykes, Jessica Underhill, Cornelia Wilson

Current and recent research:

Situated within the broad sociological field of race and ethnicity studies, Katharine Tyler’s research has examined the formation of white ethnic identities with particular reference to the ways in which Englishness/Britishness is portrayed as essentially white, suburban/rural and middle-class. Tyler’s research has also explored ideas of genealogy, ethnicity and identity with particular attention given to the ways in which members of mixed-race families think about ideas of belonging, descent, inheritance and ancestry across racial, ethnic, religious and classed lines. Tyler has conducted research on collective action, ethnicity and the state. Martin Bulmer is internationally reknowned for his long-standing research and publications in the area of race and ethnicities.

Research into the cultural identities of youth forms a theme for the group. Paul Hodkinson has focused upon the continuing adoption by some young people of subcultural identities based upon collective forms of cultural taste, such as music and style. A key interest is the self-positioning of young people, both in relation to other members of the group with which they associate and in relation to those they regard as outsiders. Hodkinson currently conducts research on ageing among Goths, including the developing trajectories through adulthood of individuals who have remained involved in 'youth cultures' beyond their formative years.

Paul Johnson’s interests are in the intersections between identity, subjectivity and social order. Research has focused on the accomplishment and enactment of ‘normative’ heterosexual identities. A strong interest is in the relationship between gender, sexuality and social class, and the relation between identity and cultural forms such as romantic love. Ann Cronin’s research interests include the social construction of sexual identities, the interaction between gender, sexuality and ageing and homelessness. She has undertaken research on the social networks of older lesbian women and the health and social care needs of older LGBT adults. Recently she explored conceptions of vulnerability through narrative accounts from people with experience of homelessness, and focused on the relationship between identity and location.

Research on the sociology of sleep by Sara Arber, Rob Meadows, Susan Venn and Jo Moran-Ellis has been built on five core, overlapping, themes:

• Age, gender and sleep – including SomnIA, a large multidisciplinary project on understanding older people’s sleep in the community and care homes, and research on children and sleep;  
• Household/couple dynamics and sleep – including an ESRC funded project exploring the ways that couples negotiate their sleep, and current work analysing large scale survey data to explore the dyadic nature of sleep;
• Quantitative investigations into inequalities in sleep – including analysis of the new Understanding Society Survey which includes sleep data from 14000 households;
• Methodological issues when researching sleep, using multi-disciplinary methodologies, including indepth interviews, audio-diaries, and actigraphy;
• Training multidisciplinary sleep researchers – including an EU Marie Curie funded Training Network, and supervision of interdisciplinary doctoral research on sleep.   

Our health research includes Sarah Earthy’s research on everyday experiences of recovery from illness, accidents and other significant health events, and Rob Meadows’ research exploring embodied health behaviours within differing 'units of analysis' (for example, dyads, households, social networks), including how 'obesity' and 'health risks' play-out within couples. Jo Moran-Ellis researches the provision of children's mental health services locally. She also examines the intersection between the institution of childhood and everyday life from a perspective drawn from Lefebvre’s work. Currently Jo is analysing data on children’s experiences of life disruption due to flooding.  

Kate Burningham and Sue Venn are conducting research to explore the processes which lead to changes in everyday behaviours and practices. They are focusing on the ways that people may or may not move towards more sustainable lifestyles around two life course transitions, the transition to retirement and the birth of a first child. The project employs a longitudinal qualitative approach alongside questionnaires and diaries.

The Identities, Generation and Everyday Life research group is closely linked to the Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender (CRAG). 

Funded projects:

Current and recently funded research projects include:

• SomnIA 'Optimising quality sleep among older people in the community and care homes'. A New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) cross-council funded Collaborative Research Project involving six disciplines, four Universities and five project partners.
• An EU Marie Curie Research Training Network on the sociological and biological factors influencing sleep.
• An ESRC-funded project on ‘Communities within communities: a longitudinal approach to minority/majority relationships and social cohesion’ .
• Research on health and service provision to older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults funded by Tower Hamlets Borough Council and ESRC
• ELiCiT: ‘Exploring Lifestyle Change in Transition’. Funded by DEFRA, ESRC and The Scottish Government as part of the Sustainable Lifestyles Research Group (jointly with CES and the Department of Psychology).
• Partner in the Impact of Injuries Study funded by the National Institute of Health Research Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care.

Doctoral Research in the group:

A very active group of about 20 doctoral students are conducting research on a wide range of topics within the Identities, Generation and Everyday Life research group.  In the area of childhood and youth, doctoral research includes on children and everyday unhappiness, services for children with ADHD, transitions into adulthod for young people with Asperger’s Syndrome, sleep and the family lives of children with cerebral palsy, the gender and generational dimensions of family time, and the social control of families. In the area of health, student research includes bereaved families decisions to donate after a death in A&E, the impact of end-stage renal failure on young people's transitions to adulthood, experiences of recovery from unintentional injury, midlife Asian women’s diet, health and sleep quality, and the role of the internet in accessing social capital and support by parents of people with Rett Syndrome. In the area of ageing, research includes generational differences in attitudes towards financial management, sleep among older people in care homes, how marital status influences support for older women in Saudi Arabia, and the impact of changes in family structure for care giving in India.

Doctoral students are funded through a variety of sources, including ESRC/DTC studentships, by their employers (eg the NHS), and overseas fellowships.

'Ethnic and Racial Studies':

This major international journal has been edited in the department since 1995 by Martin Bulmer. Its coverage of race, ethnicity and nationalism is global. It is the leading journal in its field in the world (ISI rankings for ethnic studies 2010), and a majority of contributors are located outside the UK, including leading American, Russian, German and Asian scholars. The journal is now published nine times a year, sponsors an annual lecture, and features regular special issues. A sister journal, Identities, is published in affiliation with Ethnic and Racial Studies, and managed from the Sociology Department.

Professional Activities:

Members of the group have been elected to positions in major professional associations including Sara Arber as President of the British Sociological Association (1999-2001), Vice President of the European Sociological Association (2005-07) and President of the International Sociological Association RC11 Research Committee on Sociology of Aging (2006-2010). Jo Moran-Ellis was a Founder in 2007 of the European Sociological Association (ESA) Research Network on Sociology of Children and Childhood (RN04), and Secretary of the RC53 Childhood Research Committee of the International Sociological Association (2002-2006). Robert Meadows is Executive Committee member of the British Sleep Society (2002-2006 and 2008-2011) and Recorder of the Sociology and Social Policy Section of the British Science Association (2009 -). Paul Hodkinson was Co-convenor of the BSA Youth Study Group (2003-10), and Katharine Tyler is Convenor of the ASA (Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth) Anthropology of Britain Network. Jo Moran-Ellis spent time recently as a Visiting Scholar at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (April 2010), and the University of Bergen (May 2009).

Members of the group serve on various Editorial Boards. Sara Arber is on the editorial boards of Sociology of Health and Illness and Journal of Aging Studies, and an Associate Editor for Social Science and Medicine. Katharine Tyler is on the editorial board of Identities  and the race and ethnicity section of Sociology Compass.  Martin Bulmer is Co-Editor of Ethnic and Racial Studies, and a member of the Editorial Boards of American Behavioural Scientist, Minerva, Identities  and The Sociological Quarterly.

To find out more contact members of the groups at:

Department of Sociology
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey GU2 7XH
UK
Tel. 01483 689450
Fax 01483 689551
E-mail: s.arber@surrey.ac.uk