School of Social and Political Science

Background

I am a social researcher interested in how, as academics, we can use our research to meaningfully reveal and tackle social inequalities. I typically draw on qualitative methods that help understand people and their lives from their own vantage points and have a particular interest in using collaborative and participatory methodologies. My research interest is broadly concerned with community identity and understanding the social infrastructures that support community belonging, trust and tolerance. Areas of research include youth transitions; educational engagement; public libraries; ‘significant others’ and Adverse Childhood Experiences.

My PhD, from the University of Edinburgh, explored young people’s experiences of antisocial behaviour alongside their experiences of living in a ‘disadvantaged’ socio-economic place. It employed participatory ethnographic methods to engage with a range of young people across multiple research sites. This project drove my interest in collaboratively researching and challenging social inequalities.

Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer in 2020, I was a researcher in urban studies at Heriot Watt University and was a social housing consultant at DTZ Pieda (Edinburgh).

Qualifications

PhD, Social Policy, University of Edinburgh

MSc in Childhood Studies, University of Edinburgh

MSc in Housing and Urban Studies, Edinburgh College of Art

BA, Sociology, University of Edinburgh

Current Research

Networks of reproduction in the complex planetary future (NETREP): Intimacy, companionship and family building in Finland, Portugal, and Scotland - The NETREP project will study young adults and their responses to the prevailing social expectations to procreate and have biological children in Finland, Portugal, and Scotland.

Youth Wellbeing Space Test of Change (with Christina McMellon) – this project will work alongside young people and other stakeholders to co-design a youth-owned wellbeing space using creative action research approaches.

Current Roles

I am a co-director of the Binks Hub, a new initiative supported by the Binks Trust. Our mission at the Binks is to support a bold network of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and community members committed to investigating how to tackle the issues that matter most to people, driving real-world, positive change.

I am also co-director at the cross-institution and multi-disciplinary consortium, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. The Centre is a unique research network, with an aim to connect policy makers, practitioners and academics in research on families and relationships. I am a co-editor of the journal Scottish Affairs, Scotland’s longest running journal on contemporary political and social issues.

Current Teaching

Social Inequalities and the Lifecourse; 2nd semester (honours).

Research Skills: Data Collection in the Social Sciences; 1st semester (PG)

I run an Advanced Methods Workshop on Participatory Research Methods with Dr Laura Wrights, and contribute to the PG courses on Analysing Qualitative Data and Research Design.

Past Projects

‘Working across qualitative longitudinal studies: A feasibility study looking at care and intimacy’. The study examined the possibilities for developing new procedures and extending good practice for working across multiple sets of archived qualitative data. We wanted to know whether it is possible to do ‘big qual’ analysis while retaining all that is distinct about rigorous qualitative research. See here for the study outputs: https://bigqlr.ncrm.ac.uk/

A new page? Libraries, austerity and the shifting boundaries of civil society. Working with libraries, and the neighbourhoods in which they are based, this study explored the everyday social world of the public library, giving particular focus to those groups excluded, less able or disenfranchised from local processes of participation, and for whom the library might offer a source of ‘community’ or inclusion. 

Bookbug Evaluation. The aim of the study was to examine how, and to what extent, Bookbug impacts on the lives of families in Scotland, and on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of early years professionals. More information is available here: https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading-and-stories/bookbug/bookbug-evaluation

Move on Peer mentoring programme evaluation: this project involved an outcome-based evaluation of its pilot peer mentoring programme (which was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation), and its relationship to its wider mentoring services.

Consultancy and other research

Evans, A. & Davidson, E. (2015) 'Multiple Exclusion Homelessness in Glasgow’, Glasgow Homelessness Network and The Oak Foundation.

Davidson, E. and McMellon, C. (2014) ‘Midlothian Family Resilience Project Evaluation’, Midlothian Council.

Elsley, S., Tisdall, K. & Davidson, E. (2013) ‘Children's experiences of, and views on, issues relating to the implementation of the UNCRC’, Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Davidson, E. & Chen, E. (2012) ‘Alcohol, the street and young people: A toolkit for professionals working with and for young people on the street’, Edinburgh: Granton Youth Centre and The Junction Project.

Littlewood, M., Evans, E., Fitzpatrick, S., Davidson, E. & Sosenko, F. (2011) ‘Housing Options Study’, Glasgow: Glasgow Housing Association.

Davidson, E. (2010) Single Outcome Agreements for Scottish Local Government, 2009/10 - A  thematic Analysis, Children’s Voluntary Sector Policy Officers Network and Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland.

Bennet, C., Dockery, M., Ousta,  H. &  Davidson, E. (2009) Our Say: Young People's Awareness and Understanding of the Educational Maintenance Allowance in Scotland, Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland. 

The Impact of Housing Stock Transfers in Urban Britain, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2009) - with Hal Pawson, James Morgan, Robert Smith and Rebecca Edwards.

Knowledge Exchange

Making Scotland an ACE Informed Nation – Continuing the Conversation (Challenge Investment Fund, 2017 onwards). With academic, practice and policy makers, I developed this network based on a shared interest in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The project generated a blog, special issue of Scottish Affairs and several seminars. For details about the project see  https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/CRFRresilience.

Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. With the CRFR Team, we continue to deliver an active programme of knowledge exchange throughout the academic year. Details of our current and past events are here: https://www.crfr.ac.uk/  

Recent publications (full list available here):

Davidson, E. and Cooper, T. (2022) ‘The Bookbug Programme: Booksharing as a tool for mediating children’s reading in Scotland’ in Mediating Children’s Reading, Anne Marie Hagen (eds), University of Lehigh Press.

Davidson, E. and McMellon, C. (2021) ‘A balanced approach to ethics in ethnography’ in Grace Spencer (eds), Ethics and Integrity in Research with Children and Young People, Emerald Publishing.

Edwards, R., Weller, S., Davidson, E & Jamieson, L. (2021) 'Small stories of home moves: a gendered and generational breadth-and-depth investigation,, Sociological Research Online.

Davidson, E., Nugent, B & Johnsen, S. (2021) 'The Rough Journey Home: The contribution of qualitative longitudinal research to understandings of homelessness in austerity', Social Policy and Society.

Davidson, E. (2020) 'A new page? The public library in austerity', Social Policy Review: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy. Rees, J., Pomati, M. & Heins, E. (eds.). Policy Press, Vol. 32.

Edwards, R., Davidson, E., Weller, S., and Jamieson, L. (2020) 'Theory and the breadth-and-depth method of analysing large amounts of qualitative data: a research note', Quantity and Quality.

Davidson, E. and Wright, L. (2020) 'Realising children's rights in an ACE-aware nation, Scottish Affairs, 29(4).

Davidson, E. (2020) 'Social justice or social control? An ethnographic study of detached youth work in Scotland', Scottish Affairs. (29)2.

Topics interested in supervising

I can act as a supervisor or in an informal mentoring role on projects concerning community life and everyday social interactions; civic society; youth transitions, class and inequality; youth work; public libraries; as well as students with interests in particular methodologies, including qualitative policy evaluation; qualitative data analysis; secondary qualitative data; and longitudinal qualitative methods.

• PhD in Social Policy

Current PhD Students

Madison Bunker (Social Policy): We’re going through changes: Investigating how critical transitions in children’s lives affect children’s social and emotional development from the early years onwards [working title]

Emily Kenway (Social Policy): Vulnerability and exploitation in contemporary Britain [working title]

Minkyung Kwon (Moray House) Gender Perspectives of South Korean Students in Designing Sex Education [working title]

Completed PhD Students

Joshua Anderson-Rose (International Development): Youth in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi: Young people’s views of waiting in a liminal place and liminal life stage. (2022)