Population, Health and Welfare Research Group (PHWRG)
Our focus is on population characteristics, movement and change, and their significance for individual well-being, as well as wider patterns of wealth and poverty. Population change and well-being both shape and are shaped by places, so geographies from the local to the global scale are to the forefront of our analysis. Our research is notable for its applied policy-relevance and our record of attracting funding from research councils, charities, the EU, and central and local government; yet our work is also theoretically informed and underpinned by critical scholarship. We are one of the largest groups in the UK researching the geographies of population, health and housing, and collaborate actively with colleagues in the UK and internationally in disciplines throughout the social and medical sciences. We have a strong reputation for our methodological expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research, as well as in mixed-methods and geoinformatics. Key research themes include:
Population Change
(Boyle, Findlay, Flowerdew, Fotheringham, Graham, C. Wilson)
This research is methodologically and theoretically varied, ranging from qualitative studies of sex workers to quantitative modelling of migration processes. We have particular strengths in longitudinal analyses and the establishment of the Scottish Longitudinal Study is a major new initiative which is stimulating considerable inter-disciplinary activity. One member of the group co-edits the journal Population, Space and Place, and several others are key members of the ESRC Centre for Population Change.
Housing, Neighbourhoods and Cities
(Dibben, Fotheringham, Houston, Maclennan, McKee, van Ham)
We have extensive expertise in the area of place policies, with strong links to other themes such as health and population change. Key areas of interest include: the functioning and policies of housing systems, social housing and homelessness, neighbourhood effects, housing and sustainability, and cities. We have strengths in both qualitative and quantitative research, and where appropriate projects are developed in participation with local service providers and users, enhancing the possibility of both knowledge exchange and developing links between theory and practice. One member of the group has an editorial role with the journal of Housing Studies and is also an elected member of the Housing Studies Association’s Executive Committee. Several members belong to the Centre for Housing Research and the Scottish Cities Knowledge Centre.
Health and Well-being
(Boyle, Dibben, Flowerdew, Graham, Kesby, Sothern, C. Wilson)
We have strong interests in health inequalities and geographical variations in disease and mortality. Recent projects include qualitative research on how the social production of gender and childhood facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, as well as more epidemiological research on contagion, suicide patterns, and the relationship between migration and health. We work closely with the Social Dimensions of Health Institute and are particularly interested in inter-disciplinary approaches to health questions. We are also home to the Health Poverty Index: a Department of Health funded visualization tool.
Governance, Place and Power
(Clayton, Kesby, McKee, Sothern)
Informed by post-structuralist, post-colonial and feminist perspectives on power, research within this cross-cutting theme explores geographies of difference and the emergence of new kinds of hegemonic and counter-hegemonic subjects across a range of spatial scales. Underpinned by critical scholarship, recent research projects have emphasised: localised resistance to ‘the will to empower’, and the spatial and performative context of participation; how HIV prevention strategies work to interpolate a normative subject; and the colonialist spatiality of power.
Geoinformatics
(Fotheringham, Demsar)
Our expertise in GeoInformatics spans a wide range of research areas, including substantive topics such as human mobility, global oceans, housing, health and a whole range of topics in between, as well as statistical methods development and visualisations. Through our many research projects, one thing remains constant: spatial data. Members of this group also belong to the Centre for Geoinformatics.