This presentation will be by Dr Daniel Edmiston (Sociology and Social Policy)where he will be speaking about Plumbing the Depths: Reflections on Researching the “Invisible"

This presentation outlines an increasing depth of poverty in the UK witnessed since 2010, with substantial compositional changes in the socio-demographic profile of (deep) poverty. Reflecting on the findings of this work, this presentation will consider how empirical researchers tend to evaluate the impact of a given service, institution or process on the basis of that which is visible or deemed viable. Too often, the constraints of both methodology and data lead us to make decisions about the exclusion of key populations or those ‘outside the scope of study’ for the sake of feasibility and coherence. This risks reproducing gaps in knowledge about those individuals, communities and places of most urgent interest to social justice practitioners and researchers. Drawing on the case of household income surveys and extreme destitution, this presentation will consider some of the challenges inherent to the research process that tend to overlook known unknowns, undermining our capacity to accurately answer our research questions and design effective policies to address social exclusion.

The event will take place via Blackboard Collaborate and will be recorded. Registration for this event will be understood as indicating consent to the talk being recorded.

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