Author Archives: Vicki Bolton

I trust we’re all in this together…?

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Vicki Bolton

Spot the odd one out. I trust you. She’s a trusting soul. Do you trust him? Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people? Of course … Continue reading →

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A sense of dignity

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Vicki Bolton

I went to hear Jonathan Wolff (UCL Philosophy) give a lecture on relative poverty and social inquality tonight.  It’s part of a piece of work he’s doing for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The JRF is bringing together academic ideas … Continue reading →

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Back in the computer lab – questions answered

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

I signed up to teach again this semester.  I am demonstrating on a rather nice course covering social science data and methods using Stata (STAT6077, for those in Southampton: it was the course that made me realise I was doing … Continue reading →

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Mystery

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

I spoke yesterday at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference about the first paper of my PhD. I finally answered the question I asked two years ago in this post: http://www.confoundingfactor.org/archives/145 For those who are interested, the answer is: the … Continue reading →

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Another advantage of longitudinal data

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

I have been having trouble formulating an important argument in one of my PhD papers, so I’m going to rehearse it here.  If anyone could help me to refine it, I’d be eternally grateful if you’d let me know… Longitudinal … Continue reading →

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Survey Data Not Be All And End All – Shock

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

Apparently there’s more to research than survey data – who knew? Those who have been paying attention will remember that I have used the National Child Development Study (NCDS) to examine the relationship between volunteering and political activity for the … Continue reading →

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A civic recovery? Or a graph of er… something-or-other.

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

Last year, I bought a copy of Political Participation in Britain (Paul Whiteley, 2012).  On page 86 there is a graph (bear with me…) of responses to one of the questions from the British Election Study Continuous Monitoring Survey.  This … Continue reading →

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This shouldn’t be a surprise, but ‘gold’ costs an average of £1727 while ‘green’ is free…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

I admit, I am coming in a little late on this one.  It turns out that publishing papers may be about to cost money.  An average of £1727 per paper, if RCUK has done its sums right. Some lovely folks … Continue reading →

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The tax payer buys some data. Now who owns it? A private research company.

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

It turns out that when the Government commissions research (including data collection) from a private research company, it is not standard practice to require, as part of the contract, that the data is later placed in the UK Data Archive.  … Continue reading →

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Who should be responsible for policy evaluation?

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

The Guardian has published a note by Nick Axford on when a charity might wish to carry out a randomised controlled trial. Axford works for a charity which promotes the use of evidence in designing services for children and families.  … Continue reading →

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