Careers
In Social Research
This page is intended as a brief and general introduction to the
type of organisations who employ social researchers.
The most useful
advice we could offer to any budding social researcher is the most
obvious. Get some form of research methods training or qualification;
decide which sector you are interested in; keep reading the job
sections in the quality press, sending your CV and cruising the
various job websites such as the SRA’s job adverts, Guardian's
job website, or specialist websites like Social
Science Information Gateway, and eventually you will be rewarded.
The main areas of
employment for social researchers are in central government, local
authorities, the academic community, independent research institutes
and commercial market research organizations. Some of the organisations
listed on our other useful websites page may be of use to you.
Market
Research Organisations
There are a number of market research organisations
which regularly conduct social research. Many market research organisations
do have specialist social research divisions or units and take
on graduate trainees. Although there is no guarantee that any trainee
would be able to specialise in social research, this is the main
method of entry. Agencies also recruit more experienced social
researchers - this is mainly done through recruitment consultants
or through advertising. The
Market Research Society, may be a good
first stop for some general advice about applying for jobs with
market research companies.
Academic Organisations
Social research
in academic settings provides employment (for researchers with
varying degrees of experience) in two types of environment. The
first is the large, well-established research centre, perhaps with
endowment funding, charitable funding or ESRC-designated status,
which will employ permanent research staff on career grades linked
to those of academic lecturers as well as shorter-term staff on
two or three year research contracts. This type of centre will
typically undertake work for a mixture of clients: central government,
local authorities, quangos, as well as developing their own research
programmes which might be funded by charitable trusts or the research
councils. They will also often undertake consultancy work. Examples
of this first type of set up would include the School for Advanced
Urban Studies (SAUS) at Bristol University, the Social Policy Research
Unit at York University and the Personal Social Services Research
Unit at the University of Kent.
The second type of social research
post is as an adjunct to a higher education teaching department,
where there may only be one or two research staff and for which
there is less likely to be a coherent career structure. Staff are
mainly recruited on fixed term contracts, for the duration of a
particular contract.
Charities, independent organisations, trade
unions, pressure and lobby groups and other such organisations
Many
charities and independent organizations, trade unions, pressure
and lobby and similar groups employ their own permeate research
officers. Many also employ researchers on a short-term basis to
carry out a single study or evaluation. These groups tend to advertise
for researchers on the SRA website and the national press, however
circulating a CV to some of the larger charities may be worthwhile.
Central
Government
All the main government departments employ social researchers
to some degree. The Government
Social Research Unit
acts as an umbrella providing career information, news, training,
events and the latest methodological developments for all government
social researchers and is a useful resource for those interested
in a career as a Government Social Researcher. The Office
for National Statistics also employs a large number
of social researchers.
There are two main grades to which external
candidates are recruited: Research Officers (ROs) and Senior Research
Officers (SROs). The basic requirement for recruitment as an RO
is a good first degree and ideally some postgraduate experience,
for example a masters. Some knowledge and understanding of social
research and the substantive issues of the department involved
are looked for at interview, and having some research experience
is always an advantage. SROs are only recruited with at least 3
to 4 years research experience, usually in an area of relevance
to the department in question.
Each department tends to advertise
independently as and when they need to recruit, though details
are usually provided on the GSR
website.
The main source of adverts
for all of these types of post are the quality press (for example
the Guardian, www.jobsunlimited.co.uk, and the Times
Higher Education Supplement). A good website for information about the various government
departments is the UK Open Government
website, which gives links
to just about every government department.
Local Government
Local
authority budget cuts at one time just about killed off local government
research. Now with government initiatives such as "Best Value" and
the emphasis on performance indicators, evidence based policy and
practice and so on, there has been a revival of research opportunities
in local government. Most local government departments, but in
particular, social services, housing, education and chief executive
departments make use of research, and therefore require researchers.
Once again vacancies are usually advertised in the national press
and the SRA website.
Training
You can improve your chances of landing
a job in social research by undertaking training in social research
methods. Courses on methodology range from part-time evening to
full-time Masters degrees. As well as formal educational qualifications
it may be helpful to attend some day or short courses. Day or short
courses can be an effective introduction to new methods or techniques.
The
SRA is one of the leading providers of research training with an
extensive range of both introductory and
advanced courses. These
are held in London and in provincial centres in England and Wales.
SRA Scotland and SRA
Ireland also organise there own training programmes.
More
details can be found in the ‘Directory of Social Research
Organizations in the United Kingdom, Second Edition’ edited
by Martin Bulmer, Wendy Sykes and Jacqui Moorhouse, published by
Mansell – ISBN 0 7201 2371 2
Members of the SRA receive a
quarterly newsletter carrying articles on research issues and methods,
information on publications and events and on the work of the executive
committee. If you would like to join please see our membership
page for an application form and details of how to join.
ESRC Survey
Skills Programme
The Survey Skills Programme is an exciting opportunity
for social researchers to gain a first-hand insight into the social
survey process in the 'real world' and to improve their skills
in survey research methods. A prestigious collaboration of academic
institutes and professional research organisations, including the
National Centre for Social Research, the Office for National Statistics,
the British Market Research Bureau and IpsosMORI have joined together
to offer a wide range of training opportunities covering all stages
of the survey research process. The aim is to strengthen the relationships
between those who organise, carry out and use surveys, as well
as improve the quality of survey research.
Survey Skills is open
to postgraduate research students, academics and researchers from
the NHS, local and central government and other public bodies,
as well as those working in the charity and voluntary sectors.
We hope to give new researchers good practical experience on various
aspects of social surveys to complement their theoretical learning
at uni. Researchers are invited to a very low-cost one-day workshop
which covers various aspects of running a social survey plus show
case one specific survey - we aim to run 12 workshops each year
which will take place in various venues across the UK. Then participants
are able to sign up for up to 4 days of placements on different
aspects of surveys - e.g. going out with an interviewer, working
with a team designing a new survey etc. Workshops cost between £20
and £50 depending on employment status, and further placements
days are free of charge. Employing organisations will need to fund
travel and subsistence but there is a small fund of money for travel
support for those who are unfunded. We do want our workshops to
be accessible to all, so please do contact me about travel support
(or support with paying the workshop fee) if this would make it
possible for you to attend.
For more details of the workshop timetable
please visit our website: www.surveynet.ac.uk . If you click on
'survey skills' in the left hand menu, and then click on 'workshops'
this will take you to our timetable and booking form. Alternatively
email Bev Botting, Survey Skills Outreach Officer; Beverley.botting@natcen.ac.uk tel 020 7549 9513SRA
Support to Early
Career Researchers
The SRA
with the support of TNS-BMRB has held an annual event for new and
early career researchers. In 2010 this will
be held on September 23rd 5.00 – 7.00 pm
The SRA also participates in career events
and fairs as well as providing a range of training courses. It
has also developed a competency framework to help both employers
and employees better understand the professional skills and competency
required for different levels of posts.
SRA Scotland also participates
in career events and has provided the following report (pdf
83k).
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