24 June 2024
The workshop "Time in Social Research," organised by the Interdisciplinary Research Forum, the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, and the Centre for Life Writing and Oral History, was held on Monday, June 24. The event explored the multifaceted relationship between time and social research through interdisciplinary lens, discussing longitudinal research, recursive interviews, the temporality of research practices, psychological understandings of time, time and social control, and time and progress.
Professor Louise Ryan discussed the use of qualitative longitudinal interviews to understand temporal and spatial dynamics in migration research. She highlighted the challenges and insights gained from follow-up interviews, emphasizing how migrants' lives and relationships evolve over time amidst geopolitical changes. Her paper drew from her extensive research experience and her recent book.
Professor Svetlana Stephenson presented an analysis of biographical narratives from Tzigan, an ex-gangster from Kazan, Russia. Using recursive interviews, she demonstrated how Tzigan's recollections of his gang life shifted over time, influenced by his current law-abiding status. She applied Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope to illustrate these changes in narrative and identity.
Professor Jenny Harding explored different temporalities in oral history research. Her paper examined the varied rhythms and emotional experiences tied to deceleration and acceleration in research processes, institutional contexts, and future employment aspirations.
Dr Wendy Ross addressed the concept of "latency to solution" in cognitive psychology, critiquing traditional views that isolate cognition from the environment. She argued for an ecological perspective that considers environmental affordances and socio-material influences on problem-solving latency, backed by experimental and observational studies.
Dr Craig Lundy reflected on the impact of climate change on social perceptions of the future, using Fairbourne, a Welsh town decommissioned due to coastal erosion, as a case study. He examined how communities reconstruct collective narratives and social life when the concept of progress is threatened or lost.
Professor Anne Karpf investigated the regulation of time in the context of productivity and mindfulness. She critiqued the dual pressures of increasing productivity and achieving mindfulness, suggesting that mindfulness practices have become yet another task within the neoliberal productivity paradigm.
In a conversational format, Professor John Gabriel and Richard Ross explored the significance of time in oral history interviewing, comparing perspectives from natural and social sciences. They discussed the impact of these disciplinary understandings on the relationship between interviewers and participants, focusing on the ordering and interpretation of time.
The workshop concluded with a discussion of the complex and pervasive role of time in social research and its methodological, practical, and philosophical implications.
