People
48. Sheila Rowbotham: Manchester’s Dreamer
Sheila Rowbotham, the renowned socialist feminist historian, writer, and campaigner, joined the Sociology department at Manchester in 1993 and left upon retirement in 2009. As a student of the famous historians E. P Thompson and Dorothy Thompson, Rowbotham’s work takes up the task of unearthing and documenting the ‘hidden histories’ […]
47. Family practices and David Morgan
Professor David Morgan, in honour of whom the Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives has been named, was one of the original staff members of the Sociology department at the University of Manchester in 1964. David is now Professor Emeritus in Sociology and continues to be actively involved in […]
43. Carol Smart and researching personal life
The Sociology of Personal Life deals with a cluster of loosely related and overlapping themes such as, family, kinship, friendship, sexualities, acquaintanceship, generations and consumption. It develops earlier sociological research on ‘the family’, which tended to focus on traditional, and narrow, ideas of who counts as ‘family. And it adds […]
40. Re-thinking ageing populations
Ageing populations now exert a major influence on all aspects of social and economic life. Concerns about the best way of  providing for such populations, their impact on standards of living, and relations between age groups and generations, feature prominently in public debate and discussion. The twenty-first century will without […]
35. Cathie Marsh and the craft of quantitative sociology
Cathie Marsh was a leading light in the field of quantitative sociology, particularly in the use of surveys. Sociological surveys were falling from favour in the 80s, and often dismissed as crude tools lacking in subtlety. Cathie disagreed. Her 1982 book The Survey Method argued that the problem wasn’t the […]
28. Rod Watson and conversation analysis
Conversation analysis is part of the ethnomethodological tradition of social research. Ethnomethodology uses a strong version of ethnography, which captures particular instances of ‘naturally occurring’ everyday actions and processes, often using audio and video to record them for analysis later. Conversation analysis focuses on the way different speakers take ‘turns’ […]
Professor Bryan Roberts
Back to list of video interviews Professor Bryan Roberts interviewed by Professor David Morgan Bryan Roberts joined Sociology at the University of Manchester in 1964 and played an important part in developing a programme of urban sociology. An early visit to Mexico City led to a lifetime’s work specialising in […]
Professor Carol Smart
Back to list of videos Professor Carol Smart interviewed by Professor Jeffrey Weeks Professor Carol Smart is a leading sociologist in the field of personal life and family sociology, especially family life and intimacy, divorce and separation, children and families, LGBT lives, civil partnership and donor conception. Professor Jeffrey Weeks […]
Professor David Morgan
Back to list of videos Professor David Morgan, interviewed by Professor Sue Scott David Morgan was one of the first sociologists at The University of Manchester when he joined us in 1964. He is an expert in the sociology of the family, and in fact has been hugely influential in shaping […]
