The University of Kent
The University of Kent is a UK centre for research on social policy, and within the School of Psychology it is home of the Centre for the Study of Group Processes. This is a long established international centre for social psychological research. CSGP, directed by professor Dominic Abrams, has a particular focus on issues such as equality, prejudice, discrimination, and social cognition.
The University of Kent has one of the largest groups of experimental social psychologists in Europe. CSGP is home to the EURAGE (European Research on Attitudes to Aging) research group. The group’s research includes experimental and survey tests of the way in which age stereotypes affect older people’s competence and well-being. The EURAGE group designed the European Social Survey module on Age in Round 4. That module examined age stereotypes, prejudice, perceptions of status, intergenerational contact and social participation.
Prior to that, the EURAGE team also developed and designed the current ONS modules on attitudes to age which have been adopted as standard measures by the DWP and are the subject of a new DWP report (2012).
Key personnel involved in the project
Professor Dominic Abrams
Dr Hannah Swift (or substitute) – post doctoral researcher
Main tasks attributed to them in the project
Setting up experiments, coordinating with Portugal, liasing data analysis, reporting and dissemination. This team will contribute to the design of items for inclusion in the survey of age stereotypes, an area on which they have well established expertise. They will also agree the specifics of method and analysis for the survey of informational media with the Portugeuse team and will coordinate with the Portguese team the analysis of the data and particularly any comparative analysis.
Based on the media and survey evidence, this team will also conduct experimental studies to test the potential positive impact of highlighting different types of positive stereotypes of ageing on people’s attitudes and expectations about ageing. The team will also be involved in presenting the findings and disseminating via conferences and academic papers, as well as through excellent links with policy makers.
Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience
Professor Dominic Abrams is a professor of social psychology, and the director of the Centre for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Kent. He is also a member of the Academy of Social Sciences. His research covers all aspects of social influence, prejudice, discrimination, cohesion and conflict both between and within groups and political participation.
In his research Professor Abrams uses a wide array of methods including experiments, surveys, longitudinal studies, action research, interviews, focus groups, and qualitative and archival work. His publications include 8 books, over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, many in major journals, and 100 chapters and reports.
Professor Abrams is also the co-director of the EURAGE (European Research on Attitudes to Ageing) research group. In this function, he directed a series of survey’s for the UK government, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and Age UK, all examining how people’s stereotypes and attitudes to age vary as a function of individual and national characteristics. These have been published in substantive reports and EU briefings by Age UK, and reports published by the Department for Work and Pensions. More recently, he published a report on ageism in Europe (Abrams, D., Russels, P.S., Vauclair, M., Swift, H. (2011). Ageism in Europe: Findings from the European Social Survey. London: AgeUK.)
The RA will be postdoctoral and will have been trained in advanced social science research methods and statistics. The person will have experience of dealing with both experimental and survey data sets, including preparation and piloting of materials, designing survey instruments, dealing with external research organisations, analysing and evaluating data using SPSS, and surveying literature and preparing reports in the area of stereotypes and ageing.