Featuring a range of methods courses for both qualitative and quantitative researchers, the Summer School provides the opportunity for researchers to get together, learn or develop new social science and humanities methods skills while meeting and networking with their peers.

This year we are pleased to offer seven courses including training in Nvivo software, Qualitative Interviewing and Longitudinal Data Analysis. The courses themselves allow us to showcase the considerable expertise we have in the Faculty of Humanities in a range of methodological areas, providing opportunities for attendees to receive support from leading experts.

For example, are offering a team-taught course focused on Creative Approaches to Qualitative Research. Throughout this short course members of the Centre will support attendees in learning about their specific areas of expertise in innovative and creative methodological approaches.

is a leading centre in the development and application of social network analysis techniques and this year offers a course in Mixed Methods in Social Network Analysis. This course will focus on personal networks and uses qualitative methods combined with statistical modelling.

The team will run a course focused on Digital Methods. It will introduce state-of-the-art approaches (visual methods, geospatial methods, text mining, data visualisation, creative AI methods and sensing methods) and attendees can apply them to create, analyse, and question data.

And new for this year, experts within the are offering a course in AI Driven Analytics, providing the opportunity for participants to explore cutting-edge methods ranging from descriptive and predictive to prescriptive analytics.

And it’s not just about the courses, this year as well as our usual welcome event in a local brewery, attendees will be treated to a City Centre walking tour, providing a chance to learn about 91ֱ��’s rich history while getting to know participants across the seven courses.

Our Summer School fee structure features a reduced price for PGRs and those attending from the charity or community sector. We also offer the opportunity for those entitled to this reduced fee, yet without the necessary funding, to apply for a further reduction via our bursary scheme.

You can see the full range of 2025 Summer School courses and further details on the and don’t hesitate to contact methods@manchester.ac.uk if you have any questions.

It was led by and Laura Pemberton.

• Qudamah is a research fellow within AMBS and works directly supporting the observatory, developing the data visualisations for ongoing projects.
• Laura is an AMBS postgraduate researcher and has worked on a number of projects that have used the lab, including her PhD research.

So what is the DVO?

It’s a 3D, large-scale visualisation facility with 72 full HD screens. As such, there are opportunities for immersive data analytics and social network analysis, the building of digital twins, experiments and tracking studies, the list goes on…

We were treated to a number of examples of what can be done. These included:

• A scenario based experiment: You are travelling to an airport, there is a public transport strike and you are offered the choice of an AI-driven or traditional person-driven taxi. Which would you choose? 
  How do various changes to this scenario such as the cost of the two options, the brand of the AI-driven car impact your choice? (e.g. are Volvos considered safer?) 
• A simulation to mimic the use of new technologies: Laura Pemberton’s PhD work concerns the potential of robots to assist elderly people in their homes. 
  Attitudes to different robot types ranging from ‘Ziggy’, with its futuristic design, to ‘Kitty’, a cute cat-like prototype, are measured through head tracking and other data capture methods (and yes there were a few involuntary “awws” at the cat!) 
  You can read more about Laura’s work in the . 

Attendees came from across the University, including nursing, architecture, anthropology, geography, music, physic and astronomy, dentistry and politics. And with them came a rich diversity of ideas and questions.

Laura reflects:

If you’d like to find out more about the DVO, you can find out more on the DVO website, or if you have an idea you’d like to discuss please contact Qudamah directly at datavisualisationobservatory@manchester.ac.uk.  

Our next staff training session is focused on Creative AI methods see the for more details and registration.

If you have ideas for research methods sessions you would like to see offered or that you would like to lead, please let us know.

To find out more about methods@manchester and connect with us visit our or email methods@manchester.ac.uk.

Our theme for this year is Research Methods in the Digital Age: Addressing Challenges, Realising Opportunities. 

However, we welcome submissions from researchers who work across the diversity of fields engaged in Humanities and Social Science methods and approaches. Attendees and contributors can be at any point in their development as researchers (e.g. whether in their first year of a PhD programme or established scholars).

Whether you opt to present a lightning talk or poster or want to attend to simply immerse yourself in the day, you can find out more details and information about how to submit on the .

To find out more about methods@manchester and connect with us visit our or email methods@manchester.ac.uk.

As Mitchell Online is designed with the beginner in mind, it will cover core concepts, methods and data analysis techniques of SNA. It will be hands-on and largely based around the use of the UCINET software package, giving participants experience in analysing real social network data.

**There is no prior knowledge of SNA or quantitative methods required**

Perhaps you have colleagues and friends who would benefit from this online course?

While attendees can attend from anywhere, it could particularly benefit those living overseas who find it difficult to benefit from the expertise at our regular in-person methods@manchester summer school courses.

All information can be found . But don’t delay as registration closes on Monday, 17 February and the Spring School sessions are spread over three weeks (3-17 March 2025) to maximise learning opportunities and flexibility.

To find out more about and connect with us, visit our or email methods@manchester.ac.uk.

Do you want to learn more about this facility, the kinds of projects that can benefit from it, and how this kind of work can be supported within the University?

We invite you to join us for a methods@manchester staff training session which introduces you to the Data Visualisation Observatory.

This staff training session is for any UoM member of staff who is interested in finding out more about the Data Visualisation Observatory (DVO) for research purposes. 

You might be:

• A researcher working on a project or going for funding and interested in how you can utilise the DVO in your work
• A PGR supervisor who is working out whether the DVO could be useful for PGR(s) you are supervising
• Working with industry partners and see a potential use for DVO in your collaborations
• Wanting to learn more about this facility for your future projects and collaborations.

You can find out more about the session and register .

If you are a PGR who is interested in finding out more about the DVO, please contact methods@manchester.ac.uk.

A recent event, “What's In Your Wardrobe? Telling & Sharing Clothing Stories”, encouraged attendees to bring items of clothing, and delve into the associations, memories, and connections these special items held. 

It explored how we use stories to understand ourselves and our relationships, encapsulating the principles of the Being Human Festival, which celebrates how the Humanities inspire and enrich our daily lives, and help us navigate a changing world. 

The event was held at Ascension Church Hall in Hulme, and featured Jolene Sheehan (community workshop lead, poet, artist, and more), Professor Sophie Woodward (from The University of Manchester’s Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives), and Dr Benjamin Wild (Reader in Fashion Narratives at 91ֱ�� Fashion Institute, 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University). 

All three speakers incorporate storytelling into their work. For Sophie and Ben, stories are the threads that connect us to our lives, identities, and imaginations. Jolene leads the project, which aims to connect people to each other, themselves, and their memories through writing. We were delighted to have a number of participants from this project join us for the event. 

The stories behind the items of clothing were moving, engaging and uplifting. 

One woman brought a prayer dress, a loose-fitting garment with a scarf, typically worn by Muslim women during prayer. This item has gained additional significance during the Israel-Gaza conflict, as Palestinian women have taken to wearing their prayer clothes day and night, staying covered and prepared for any situation. 

Another attendee brought the dress she wore on her first date with her then-boyfriend (now husband) nearly 40 years ago. The dress has adapted with changing fashions and hemlines but has remained a constant in her life, standing in stark contrast to the fast fashion dominating our high streets. 

Such items and shared stories were deeply individual, yet they connected people within the room and beyond, highlighting important familial relationships and communities bound by empathy and solidarity. 

“Talking is important” said one attendee and I couldn’t agree more. 

To keep up-to-date with methods@manchester activities and events please here or connect via our . 

These African objects, generally seized within a colonial context and often with violence, are usually held in stores concealed from public view. Herein lies the challenge - how to engage with and exhibit African history, yet in ways that are honest, respectful and true to the knowledge and meanings of people’s lived experiences. 

The event was designed to support 91ֱ�� Museum’s aims to change its approach to narrating the past, and to reinforce how important local communities are to these developing understandings and approaches to decolonisation.

It was particularly fitting this workshop was held in 91ֱ��, next door to the site of the 1945 Pan African Congress, widely celebrated as a turning point in the journey of African nations to freedom from colonial powers. This poignant connection was pointed out by one attendee while discussing the considerable challenge ahead for a museum committed to decolonising their exhibitions.

With input from people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, the objects literally came to life as people shared feelings, ritual practices and stories.

For many objects, their meanings emerge through experiences or knowledge about their use, hence the terminology of ‘living cultures’. Sometimes recounting these stories and uses drew excitement and laughter but other reflections warranted a serious tone and quiet contemplation.

An object described simply as “a wooden cup” by its label was so much more. We learnt of the vessel’s potential use for divination purposes, in meaningful rituals for special blessings and protective reasons. What looked at first glance like a decorative pattern etched onto its surface likely symbolised a particular community, and in this case the gift of such an object could symbolise friendship or support between communities. 

The “wooden cup” represents so many things but reduced to this simple label “the knowledge is dead” as one participant so eloquently remarked.

Unsettling memories and historical facts were recounted. One example being the instruction to stop using particular objects - threats by Christian missionaries that heaven wouldn’t be an option if populations continued with African practices and customs: “now we are reclaiming them” said one woman. 

And that’s what this workshop was all about. Using an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to help the Museum discover the values and meanings these objects have for African diaspora. This essentially is at the heart of the Museum’s decolonisation methodology, hence the importance of this collaboration to . Centring those histories and narratives that are often omitted or ignored allows the return of the “living” to these objects encouraging those who know to reclaim and narrate their stories.

What’s next? 

We hope to continue with this collaboration between methods@manchester, The University of Manchester, 91ֱ�� Museum and the African diaspora community groups who very generously shared their stories during the workshop.

Filmmaker, Dr Sophie Everest is currently leading with the development of a co-produced film featuring the workshop, the stories and the museum’s attempts to decolonise its exhibits, and we hope to release a digital mini-exhibition and Dr Njabulo Chipangura will appear on an episode of , the methods@manchester podcast.

To keep up-to-date with methods@manchester activities and events please or connect with us via our .