Category Archives: PhD

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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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 →

Posted in Methods, PhD | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

First, select your cohort

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

The first of the national cohort studies, the one begun one week in March 1946 has been the subject of a series of Radio 4 interviews and a newspaper article this week.  A cohort study follows a group of people (the cohort) … Continue reading →

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“…part of what I call the Big Society…”

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Vicki Bolton

The Prime Minister has gone and brought it up again.  I confess that I’m a little slow off the mark, and this is actually from before Christmas (thank you to George Disney for pointing it out to me) but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, PhD | Tagged | 1 Comment

Time use surveys and volunteering

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Vicki Bolton

I’ve been reading up on the available (UK) time use data on volunteering and found a short technical paper produced by Kimberley Fisher from the Centre for Time Use Research.  The paper’s interesting in its own right, but here’s what … Continue reading →

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Not exactly blogging the SPA conference…

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Vicki Bolton

As a freshly established blogger, I had in mind to try my hand at ‘blogging a conference’ (the Social Policy Association Conference, to be precise).  I think a laptop the size of a planet may not be the best tool, … Continue reading →

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Thinking out loud about differences between surveys

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Vicki Bolton

What with one thing (daughter’s chickpox) and other (holiday in the US) and all the stuff in between (more bank holidays than you can shake a stick at at), I haven’t been here for a while.  I’m rapidly rolling towards … Continue reading →

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What is volunteering?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Vicki Bolton

My supervisor has suggested that I leave this question alone for a little while, so of course I can’t…  (For those of you who can’t countenance studying something before defining it, please bear in mind that I pretty much have … Continue reading →

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