[UK] PhD Scholarship For Reasearch on Social Change University of Manchester

The Institute for Social Change is an initiative of five years at the University of Manchester. Specific research topics within the broad field of comparative social Change can be developed by individual applicants. The staff of the Institute By collaborating in the investigation with members of Harvard University, including Professor Robert Putnam.

The Institute for Social Change is designed to carry out world-class social The comparative research on the science of social change. The main objective is to develop New models of what drives social change. These models will be rigorous and Empirically ashore. According to the School of Social Sciences, is intended for Innovative Uses of empirical data, while maintaining a strong theoretical Background. The investigation also will examine how the outcome will affect social well Being of different members of society. The investigation of social change has Implications for the design of policies and institutions.

Since the 1960’s, the underlying values of citizens into the political system and Towards else has changed along with the increase of economic changes and New migration patterns. In the UK and USA, mutual learning for change Compare both within and across national borders has a long history, especially In the area of social policy. We hope to revive that tradition by combining Sociological, political and empirical research in new ways. Research topics They include, among others, social cohesion, immigration and ethnicity, the workplace Practices, active citizenship, the role of religion, urban planning, criminal justice, In public health, and so on. Members of the Institute have experience in election Results, electoral behaviour, social capital research, immigration research, and Many other topics. Staff Associate at the University of Manchester also Specializing in social network analysis, cultural values, personal political Attitudes, and civic engagement, and how these relate to religious
Guidelines.

The Connection with Harvard University
Through  an  annual  summer  school  and  ongoing  staff  and  student  exchanges, there  will  be  opportunities  for  interchange  based  upon  research  programmes which are located in the Institute. These research programmes have been pro-actively started by Professors Putnam and Fieldhouse and other staff, and will continue to grow by raising external funds as well as by the start of a process of dissemination of comparative UK/USA results from the first project.  This project on Civic Engagement is just one of several areas of research that Institute staff will be developing.

The staff of the Institute based in Manchester University will have duties such as PhD  supervision,  Masters  dissertation  supervision,  and  curriculum development.  The  Harvard  staff  will  not  be  teaching  at  the  University  of Manchester in the assessed curriculum.

An annual Summer Institute, led by Prof. R. Putnam and with participation by staff of Harvard University, will be held in Manchester.  The students in the MSc and  PhD  in  Social  Change  will  be  invited  to  apply  to  come  for  the  Summer Institute each year. In 2007-8 this Institute will last for two weeks.

Up to Three PhD Scholarships For Research on Social Change
The Institute for Social Change offers up to three PhD Scholarships for research on the areas on which Institute staff and associates are working.  These areas include civic engagement, social capital, changing cultural values, and changing policy interventions in a comparative cross-country perspective. Applications are welcome at any time for PhD study in the Institute for Social Change, and the deadline of May 15, 2007,  applies if you wish to be considered for a Scholarship.

The  Scholarship  will  entail  payment  of  fees  and  an  annual  stipend  of  up  to Ł11,250.

Project Topics
We welcome your PhD proposal, and we can suggest the following broad areas of research within which a narrower topics will be suggested in your proposal:

• Civic Engagement Across Countries
• Immigration and Ethnicity
• Comparative Study of Religion
• Inequalities or Trends in Social Capital
• Social and Political Aspects of Changing Values or Behaviour
• Other topics in comparative social and political change

The scholarship will be either for a MSc+PhD programme taking four years, or simply  for  the  3 year  PhD  programme.    Applications  are  welcome  from candidates with any disciplinary background.

In view of the advanced methods we use in the Institute, you are likely to end up doing a strongly empirically grounded research project.  For instance, you could use  an  international  secondary  data  set  such  as  the  European  Social  Survey, World Values Survey, or Multi National Time Use Data.  We would encourage you to use empirical analysis to trace change over time and/or to compare at least two country experiences.  In Year 1 we will help you to refine your topic, choose some data, and develop the methodology.

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/socialchange/postgraduate