Research Fellow - Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

.Position Details

School of Social Policy

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,942 to £40,322. With potential progression once in post to £42,792 a year. Due to funding restrictions maximum starting salary available for this post will be £32,817

Grade 7

Part time 50% FTE

Fixed term contract for up to 1st June 2023

Job Summary

We are seeking a part time Research Fellow to work on an NIHR/SSCR-funded project entitled: Development of A Decision Support Tool for Older People Who Pay for Social Care, and Their Families.

Making decisions about social care in later life can be complex and emotional. For people who pay for all of their care themselves (self-funders), navigating the care system and paying for care with little or no formal guidance or support is particularly difficult. As a result, self-funders can make poorly informed decisions that have detrimental long-term consequences for them, their families and local councils.

This project aims to develop a prototype of a decision support tool to help older self-funders and their families make informed decisions about paying for social care.

• Plan and undertake empirical research with self-funders, carers and practitioners
• Outline and gain ethical approval for the research
• Organise and conduct consultations and workshops with practitioners
• Collect and analyse data
• Write academic outputs
• Present and explain findings to academic and practitioner audiences
• Attend meetings
• Liaise with staff, collaborators, and stakeholders of the research
• Coordinate meetings
• Produce progress reports

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Desk research - Literature review (e.g. on the financial issues related to care decision-making)
• Organisation of workshops
• Design and development of fieldwork materials
• Data collection - iterative interviews using 'think-aloud' techniques with practitioners, self-funders and carers; semi-structured interviews with users of the tool; survey design for purpose of formative evaluation
• Qualitative data analysis (thematic analysis)
• Basic quantitative data collection and analysis
• Contribute to the writing and production of the final project report
• Dissemination of project findings - (e.g. research seminars and conferences)
• Contribute to the writing, presentation and publication of academic outputs
• Undertake management/administration arising from the research
• Contribute to Departmental/School/CHASM research-related activities
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines

Person Specification

• First degree in Social Policy, Sociology or other relevant discipline
• PhD in Social Policy, Sociology or other relevant discipline (or near completion, i.e. submitted thesis)
• Experience of conducting and analysing qualitative research
• Experience of basic quantitative data collection and analysis methods (desirable)
• Experience of conducting research related to adult social care and personal finance (desirable)
• Experience of designing decision aids/conducting research related to decision aids (desirable)
• Experience of applying ethical considerations to the collecting and managing of data
• Experience with data management and NVivo qualitative data analysis software
• Experience of writing up research for academic and non-academic audiences
• Excellent organization skills
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly in both written form and in presentations (Including a very high standard of written and spoken English)
• The ability to develop constructive and efficient working relationships with people at all levels within an organization, demonstrating an understanding of their perspectives, priorities and expectations

For further information please contact Louise Overton: l.e.overton@bham.ac.uk

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity at The University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community '