ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference

Wednesday December 12, 2018

Location: Sutherland Room

Welcome to Country: Uncle Ray Davison

Opening Remarks: Professor Catherine Waldby, Director, Research School of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University

What can the use of biomarkers in survey data tell us about the social sciences?

Professor Tarani Chandola, University of Manchester

Location: Sutherland Room

With the advent of novel biomarkers measuring different aspects of human biology being collected in large surveys, there has been an explosion of biosocial studies on associations between new biomarkers and social phenotypes. Alongside, there has been increasing criticism of the methods and theoretical implications of these biosocial studies from sociologists, anthropologists and other social sciences. Much of the critical focus has been on the nature vs nurture debates in relation to phenotypes like intelligence. However, these criticisms have also focussed on other conceptual and methodological issues related to determinism, reductionism and the normative assumptions underlying biosocial research and researchers. However, some of these criticisms may not be valid, partly because of the selected sample of biosocial studies reviewed.

This talk will examine a range of biosocial studies in the light of these criticisms largely arising from the sociological literature. Case studies of biosocial studies where these criticisms may be valid or invalid will be presented. A critical evaluation of some biosocial studies from a sociological perspective will examined alongside an evaluation of the assumptions underlying some of the sociological critiques of biosocial research. The talk will end with some potential recommendations on how we could produce better biosocial research with greater input from the social sciences and how biosocial research and researchers can cross disciplinary boundaries.

Tarani Chandola: Biography

Tarani is a Professor of Medical Sociology. He joined the University of Manchester and the Cathie Marsh Institute in April 2010, was the head of the Disciplinary Area of Social Statistics (2012-2014) and the director of the Cathie Marsh Institute (2013-2016). He was formerly at the UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and prior to that completed his PhD and post-doc at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. He is a co-director of two ESRC centres: the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM: www.ncrm.ac.uk) and the International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health (ICLS: www.ucl.ac.uk/icls), and a co-director of SOC-B, the ESRC-BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Biosocial Research.

Tarani's research is primarily on the social determinants of health, focusing on health inequalities and psychosocial factors, and the analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. Much of his research is on stress at work, and its effects on health and related biomarkers. He leads the academic network on Health, Work and Wellbeing (manchester.ac.uk/hawnn), sits on the Health & Work advisory board for Public Health England and chairs the scientific advisory board for the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change Centre (MiSoC).

Embodiment and lifecourse trajectories: getting to grips with social to biological processes

Dr Michelle Kelly-Irving, Inserm Unit of Epidemiology and Public Health, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

Location: Sutherland Room

The dynamic interactions between humans and their environments may result in socially stratified health states. I will present conceptual and empirical work on this topic rooted in lifecourse theory to examine the concept of embodiment. In this presentation I will outline some of the pressing research questions where social-to-biological approaches may be useful. Using some examples from analyses based on birth cohort studies I will explore how the childhood social environment may be a determinant of physiological and pathological outcomes in later life. I will describe some of the risks and limitations of this type of research, asking whether this work unnecessarily “biologizes” the social. Finally I will highlight the opportunities afforded by socially driven research using biological data and possible relevance for policy.

Michelle Kelly-Irving: Biography

Dr. Michelle Kelly-Irving is a lifecourse epidemiologist working for the French national medical research institute (Inserm) in Toulouse. Her work focuses on the social determinants of health, and the mechanisms at play to produce social inequalities in health. Her research is on the impact of the early life environment on later health through social-to-biological processes. By taking a lifecourse approach to understanding the complex interactions between population groups and their environments across the life span, her work aims to disentangle the processes leading towards health states. She is passionate about interdisciplinary research on health and wellbeing, and when possible bringing together experts from diverse qualitative and quantitative methodological backgrounds to work on population health as a common objective.

Generation Victoria (GenV): Building tomorrow’s frameworks for biosocial collaboration

Professor Melissa Wake, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The University of Melbourne

Location: Sutherland Room

GenV’s vision is to help solve complex issues affecting today’s children and tomorrow’s adults. It conceptualises an entire system (the state of Victoria) becoming a single dynamic research platform to enhance the speed, capacity and connectedness of children’s research. The GenV Cohort 2020s will be open to the families of all 160,000 babies born in Victoria over two years from late 2020. At its foundation are consent, use of existing data and biospecimens, augmentation with social and phenotypic measures, and the melding of observational and rigorous intervention design. Coupled with geospatial, clinical and large linked administrative datasets, we aim for lasting change in the landscape of large scale research for children. GenV was launched in December 2017 with philanthropic and state funding. Foundational 2018 activities have included building the LifeCourse Data Repository, commissioning state-of-the-art biobanking facilities, developing the Cohort 2020s Protocol, and initiating the Solutions Hub as the ‘engine room’ of GenV’s people, science and translation.

Melissa Wake: Biography

Professor Melissa Wake (MBChB, FRACP, FAHMS, MD) is a paediatrician, community child health researcher, and Scientific Director of the new Generation Victoria (GenV) initiative, led from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her goals are to speed up children’s research and to test interventions that change children’s care. Her “population paediatrics” agenda spans common childhood conditions and antecedents of diseases of ageing. She is known for her many randomised trials and her leadership of major longitudinal studies, including the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children’s new biophysical module (the Child Health CheckPoint). She has published around 300 papers, and projects she has led have twice appeared in the NHMRC's annual 'Ten of the Best' publication. Successes in research translation include securing and implementing the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program, which is springboarding a continuing program of population-based hearing research.

Using social-biological research methods in Australian primary schools: Learnings and findings from the field

Associate Professor Naomi Priest, Centre for Social Research and Methods, ANU

Location: Sutherland Room

This presentation will discuss the application of social-biological research methods as part of a population survey and intervention study in Australian primary schools. It will explore practical experiences of engaging with schools to collect social-biological data in an ethical and respectful way with students from marginalised ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, while also building capacity of schools and students in science and research methods. This will include qualitative data from teachers and students about the research process as well as study findings.

Naomi Priest: Biography

Associate Professor Naomi Priest leads the Social-Bio research group in the Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National University. Her broad research interest is to integrate social and epidemiologic methods to examine and address inequalities in health and development across populations and place. Much of this work focuses on understanding patterns, mechanisms and influences of adverse early life exposures and stressors, including discrimination, stigma and bias. She holds an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship for her work on ‘How does early life adversity “get under the skin” to influence lifelong health?’ and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Naomi received her PhD in population health at the University of Melbourne, and completed a NHMRC post-doctoral fellowship also at the University of Melbourne with training in social epidemiology. She was leader of the VicHealth funded Anti-Racism and Diversity program at the University of Melbourne from 2012-2015, and also a Senior Research Fellow in the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation from 2014-15.  In 2014-15 she was a Visiting Scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health prior to joining the ANU.

Workshop presenters: Ronnie Semo and Somayeh Parvazian, National Centre for Vocational Education Research

Location: Holme Room

This half-day workshop aims to assist current and prospective LSAY data users in understanding the data sets and preparing them for panel data analysis. LSAY is a series of longitudinal surveys that track young people across multiple cohorts as they transition from school to adulthood. LSAY covers topics relating to education, employment, living arrangements and wellbeing and includes information that isn’t captured by administrative data such as attitudes, engagement, satisfaction and soft skills.

The first stage of the workshop will introduce participants to the basics of the LSAY data and some useful resources, while the second stage will focus on how to get the data ready for analysis and a very brief refresher of linear regression. We will then introduce you to panel data and the necessary structure to conduct longitudinal analysis before providing examples of analysing LSAY using mixed modelling.

This workshop is suitable for beginners in multilevel modelling. Topics include multilevel data structures, random intercept and slope models for two-level structures, contextual effects, and modelling variance.

The workshop will cover:

Stage 1

• survey design and methodology
• an introduction to the LSAY cohorts
• the questionnaires and major topics
• tools and resources including: LSAY QuickStats, the online data dictionary and the variable listing and metadata
• variable naming and derived variables
• sample sizes, weights and missing values

Stage 2

• how to access the data
• transposing data from wide to long format
• using basic multilevel modelling techniques to analyse LSAY

The workshop will be run by members of the LSAY team from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and will include a combination of presentations and demonstrations. Participants are encouraged to bring their own computers if they are interested in using the LSAY data and a more hands-on experience.

Biography: Ms Ronnie Semo, Senior Research Officer, National Surveys, National Centre for Vocational Education Research

With more than ten years’ experience in using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian (LSAY), Ronnie has made a notable contribution to the evidence base and literature on youth pathways. In her current role, Ronnie is responsible for all aspects of data management for the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and is passionate
about improving the quality and usability of the LSAY data. Ronnie also authors peer-reviewed publications and technical industry reports and represents the LSAY program in a variety of forums including data workshops and conferences. She also provides advice and support to the LSAY Strategic Advisory Committee and is a key member of the LSAY management team.

Biography: Dr Somayeh Parvazian, Research Officer, National Surveys, National Centre for Vocational Education Research

Dr Somayeh Parvazian works on the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) and is involved in developing and testing the LSAY survey instrument, analysing and developing procedures for survey sampling, updating the weighting methodology for the LSAY data and developing best survey practice. Somayeh has previously worked as a statistician in several multidisciplinary research projects focusing on youth, women and education.

Workshop presenter: Pat Bazeley

Location: Cullen Room

Analysing mixed methods data is more than just comparing and perhaps melding the conclusions drawn from separate data components. Integration, which lies at the heart of mixed methods research, is about bringing varied data and analysis strategies together in multiple ways throughout a project – as iterative exchange, and also at one or more deliberate ‘points of interface’ – so that the varied approaches taken become interdependent in achieving a common theoretical or research outcome. This workshop will present a range of complementary, comparative, relational, transformative, and visual processes for integrating varied data sources and strategies for analysis, illustrated through reference to a variety of mixed methods studies from multiple disciplines. These integrative processes and strategies are designed to ensure that data and available tools are used most effectively in building strong and useful conclusions that contribute to meeting the purpose of the research.
Reference text: Bazeley, P. (2018). Integrating analyses in mixed methods research. London: Sage.

About the presenter: Pat Bazeley is Director of Research Support P/L and Adjunct Professor in the Translational Research and Social Innovation Centre at Western Sydney University. For almost 30 years Pat provided research training and project consulting to academics, students and practitioners across Australia and internationally. Her publications include books and articles on qualitative and mixed methods research, with a focus on data analysis and/or use of software for management and analysis of data. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and was 2015–16 President of the Mixed Methods International Research Association.

Workshop presenter: Mike Cheung, National University of Singapore

Location: McCallum Room

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) uses the techniques of meta-analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) to synthesize correlation matrices and to fit hypothesized models on the combined correlation matrix. It can be used to test path models, confirmatory factor analytic models, and structural equation models from a pool of correlation matrices. It inherits the advantages from both meta-analysis and SEM. In this workshop, we will introduce the basic theory of MASEM and illustrate how to conduct the analyses with R. Participants are expected to bring their notebooks to the workshop.

Workshop presenter: David White

Location: Withdrawing Room

As more data and information become available for analysis, researchers, consultants and clients expect research to be deeper, balanced and consistently performed.  A significant challenge with this increasing amount of data is the effort to review and analyse the data.  While many researchers are trained in the use of statistics and quantitative data analytics tools, research of unstructured data (reports, journal articles, newspaper articles, texts, theses and other studies) relies heavily on reading, highlighters and sometimes coding.

In this workshop we will learn techniques that can be used to:

1. Identify themes across a broad range of documents to determine the appropriateness for inclusion of the papers in our research
2. Use analysis to link structured data with themes, topics, phrases and words in unstructured data
3. Consistently gather data from social media sources for analysis

About the presenter:The trainer for this course is David White. David is an experienced data analyst.  He is a director of Survey Design and Analysis Services.  He has worked in the field of IT audit and consulting for more than 20 years where he has helped clients develop frameworks and methodologies.  As a consultant he has helped clients gather and analyse their data to help them answer specific questions and to help them solve problems.

Workshop presenters: Professor Tarani Chandola and Dr Michelle Kelly-Irving

Location: Sutherland Room

• What is biosocial research?
• Biosocial Research Questions
• Methodological considerations around blood based biomarkers
• Missing data methods for biosocial data

About the presenters:

Tarani is a Professor of Medical Sociology. He joined the University of Manchester and the Cathie Marsh Institute in April 2010, was the head of the Disciplinary Area of Social Statistics (2012-2014) and the director of the Cathie Marsh Institute (2013-2016). He was formerly at the UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and prior to that completed his PhD and post-doc at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. He is a co-director of two ESRC centres: the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM: www.ncrm.ac.uk) and the International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health (ICLS: www.ucl.ac.uk/icls), and a co-director of SOC-B, the ESRC-BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Biosocial Research.

Tarani's research is primarily on the social determinants of health, focusing on health inequalities and psychosocial factors, and the analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. Much of his research is on stress at work, and its effects on health and related biomarkers. He leads the academic network on Health, Work and Wellbeing (manchester.ac.uk/hawnn), sits on the Health & Work advisory board for Public Health England and chairs the scientific advisory board for the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change Centre (MiSoC).

Dr. Michelle Kelly-Irving is a lifecourse epidemiologist working for the French national medical research institute (Inserm) in Toulouse. Her work focuses on the social determinants of health, and the mechanisms at play to produce social inequalities in health. Her research is on the impact of the early life environment on later health through social-to-biological processes. By taking a lifecourse approach to understanding the complex interactions between population groups and their environments across the life span, her work aims to disentangle the processes leading towards health states. She is passionate about interdisciplinary research on health and wellbeing, and when possible bringing together experts from diverse qualitative and quantitative methodological backgrounds to work on population health as a common objective.

Thursday December 13, 2018

Leah Ruppanner, University of Melbourne

Location: Sutherland Room

Social scientists have long relied on traditional survey methods to answer important questions. Yet, large survey modules have significant limitations especially in relation to understanding questions of causal inference. This session will explore how survey experiments, a technique utilised in psychology and other disciplines, can be augmented to address pressing social questions that have traditionally been answered through large sample public opinion surveys. Drawing upon an interdisciplinary perspective, this session will provide some clear directions forward to address some of the challenges associated with traditional social science methods.

Leah Ruppanner: Biography

Dr Leah Ruppanner is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. She is currently holds and ARC Discovery on Sleep and was a 2015 ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Recipient. Prior to her appointment, she was a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln where she worked on the NSF funded project “Reducing Error in Computerized Survey Data Collection.”. Dr. Ruppanner researches work and family issues with particular focus on the impact of macro-structural gender equality and public policy.

Location: The Refectory

Conference cocktail reception - all attendees welcome.

Additionally, there will be the book launch of Australian Social Attitudes IV: The Age of Insecurity.

About Australian Social Attitudes IV: The Age of Insecurity.

In the decade following the end of the Howard administration, Australian politics has been defined by growing uncertainty and the emergence of popular disaffection with the political class, similar to that found in the United States and Britain. Australian Social Attitudes IV: Australia in the Age of Insecurity is an in-depth look at the economic and geopolitical tensions that pervade Australian discourse.

Building on public opinion data collected by the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes and the Australian Election Study in particular, this book is designed to present the public, media, and policymakers with up-to-date analysis of public opinion about important topics confronting Australian politics and society.

About the Editors
Shaun Wilson is an associate professor of sociology at Macquarie University.
Markus Hadler is a professor of sociology at University of Graz.

Friday December 14, 2018

How can post-qualitative forms of inquiry, such as video-reflexive ethnography, demonstrate impact?

Rebecca Olson, University of Queensland

Ann Dadich, Western Sydney University

Location: Sutherland Room

Impact characterises the current research climate in Australia. Peak funding bodies require applicants to demonstrate the likely social and economic benefits of their work within the academy and the communities with whom their research engages. Impact can take many forms: improvements in health, job creation, public policy and local practice, among others (ARC, 2018). Yet, to demonstrate probable impact, it must in some way be identifiable, measurable, and predictable. A new form of social research ― post-qualitative inquiry (PQI) ― affords opportunities but also poses challenges to this impact imperative. PQI is critical of traditional approaches to qualitative research, arguing that these methods tend to be humanist, text-heavy, and researcher-centred. Although theory generation or extension might be a goal, PQI is critical of the methodological fetishism and theory-neutrality of traditional approaches to qualitative research. In contrast, PQI promotes theory-driven research and treats bodies, materials, and texts as intertwined. Rather than privileging text, PQ inquirers value affective forms of knowing as they trace the flows and intensities of the research process (Fullagar, 2017). This presentation engages with some of the challenges that surround PQI: its capacity to demonstrate engagement, impact, and the scalability of associated findings. With reference to an exemplar ― namely, video reflexive ethnography (VRE) ― this presentation critically reflects on some of the ways it has been used and its associated benefits. Specifically, it discusses: the extent to which impact can be predicted and sustained after the researchers leave the field; and the scepticism of transferability given the prioritisation of local practices and practitioners. The presentation concludes by considering opportunities to strengthen the ways that VRE, and perhaps other forms of PQI, might demonstrate engagement, impact, and scalability.

Rebecca Olson: Biography

Rebecca E. Olson is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland. She uses innovative video-based and qualitative research methods to research topics that intersect medical sociology, interprofessional practice and emotions. She is currently using video-reflexive ethnographic and multi-method to examine the emotional dimensions of interprofesisonal practice in a cancer care department of one hospital. In another project, she is employing facial action coding software to identify moments of heightened affectivity within interviews with long-term smokers undergoing lung screening. She has published in journals such as Social Science & Medicine and Medical Education. In 2015, she was co-editor of two special sections in Emotion Review on methodological innovations in research on emotions. Her recent books include: Towards a Sociology of Cancer Caregiving: Time to Feel (Ashgate, 2015), and Emotions in Late Modernity (Routledge, 2019, edited with Patulny, Khorana, Bellocchi, McKenzie and Peterie).

Ann Dadich: Biography

Dr Ann Dadich is a Senior Lecturer within the Western Sydney University School of Business. She is also a registered psychologist, and a full member of the Australian Psychological Society. Dr Dadich has accumulated considerable expertise in health service management, notably knowledge translation. This encompasses scholarship on the processes through which different knowledges coalesce to promote quality care. This is demonstrated by her publishing record, which includes approximately 150 refereed publications; the research grants she has secured; and the awards she has received. Dr Dadich holds editorial appointments with several academic journals, including: the Australian Health Review; and the International Journal of Healthcare. She also chairs the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) Health  Management and Organisation (HMO) Conference Stream and convenes the ANZAM HMO Special Interest Group. Additionally, Dr Dadich supervises doctoral candidates and teaches undergraduate units on change management, innovation, creativity, and organisational behaviour.