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Social Science Researchers who are not Tenured Academic teachers in New Zealand

Overview:

Non-academic social science researchers do much of the social research in New Zealand and are the employers of many of those social science researchers who are trained in academic social science departments. Yet little is known of their characteristics, what work they accomplish and how they interact with academic and other non-academic research users. Non-academic sectors include: private firms, government agencies, NGOs and others (eg CRIs).

 

Research Team:

Director
Charles Crothers
charles.crothers@aut.ac.nz

With Nick Taylor (Taylor Baines) and Charles Waldegrave  Family Center Social Policy Unit)

Research officer
Ainslee Gee
aigee@aut.ac.nz

Tasks:

  1. Develop a list of firms and independent consultants who supply social science research services in NZ
  2. Obtain the permission of these firms to participate and then appropriate lists of personnel from these firms
  3. Develop a web-based questionnaire (adapted in part from the BRCSS questionnaire) for individual social researchers
  4. Develop a web-based questionnaire for social science research firms etc
  5. Activate data-collection using these questionnaires
  6. Examine and report on preliminary findings.

Invitation:

We are building up a register of social science research firms and units and individual social science researchers, with firms and people on it to be asked to fill in on-line questionnaires.

Individual Questionnaire: Download here

SRBA Reference List: Download here

Firms Questionnaire: Download here


Funding: BRCSS Summer Studentship; AUT School of  Languages and Social Sciences

Coverage: NZ-based Social science researchers who are not tenured teaching staff
The coverage is progressive: (1) Community based researchers, NGO researchers, iwi-based researchers
(2) Consultants and researchers in private firms.
..and if possible, then…
(3) Government, local-government, Quasi-government social science researchers 
(4) University-based but non-tenured-teaching social science researchers
(5) Research staff of market research and other commercially-orientated consultancy firms
Note: Scope of study is set to be complementary to the BRCSS/ studies

Disciplinary Range:

  1. General social researchers
  2. Psychologists, Economists, Historians

Access-routes for Sampling:

  1. Associations which are relevant: ASSR, NZAIA, AES etc.
  2. Broader organisations: RSNZ, SAANZ etc
  3. Employing organisations: e.g. CRIs, LAs, Govt. Ministries, Depts.
  4. Yellow pages, Other business directories, and Govt. lists
  5. Inferring from inspection of relevant reports, publications etc.
  6. Snowballing.
    Note: Coverage of the full ‘population’ will be attempted.

Methods:
Invite Staff/Directors to fill in appropriate web-based questionnaires, which will then be analysed.

Topics for Questionnaires:
Social Researchers
Social background (e.g. parents), Social Characteristics
Education
Further education/training
Job history/outlook (occupational identity, professionalism)
Key career experiences
Job activities & relationships
Capacities, skills
Job Opportunities/constraints (what’s needed to improve job skill-set)
Job satisfactions
Job orientations

Firms/Units
When founded
Founders
Why founded
Capabilities/Capacities
Types of Work carried out
Types of Clients
Opportunities for firm
Constraints on firm
Strategies of Firm (e.g. growth)
Employees
Links with other firms/units

Preliminary Work:
 
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