Polytechnic of North London (1976 - 1992)
[Page last updated 24 April 2012]
When the SSRC closed the Survey Unit in September 1976, I, along with several other colleagues, was made redundant. Luckily, in May of that year, I had been appointed Principal Lecturer in Sociology at the then Polytechnic of North London (now part of London Metropolitan University) to design and head up the Social Planning and Research option of a new four-year BA Applied Social Studies degree (the other option being Social Work) This was to be the first ever undergraduate degree specialising in the training of social researchers: students could also qualify for the Diploma of the Market Research Society provided they met certain criteria. The Council for National Academic Awards approved the submission first time round and the first undergraduates were admitted in September 1977. Graduates from this degree course now hold senior positions in social research in the UK including at least four professorial chairs.
In October 1976 I launched Survey Analysis Workshop (postgraduate, professional, hands-on, part-time, evening ) the first ever evening course in the Faculty, based on the survey analysis and SPSS elements of the SSRC Summer Schools in Survey Methods. There's a separate note on the history and development of the course. In Feb 1977, I also launched a sister course Survey Research Practice, taught entirely by senior practitioners from major research organisations.such as SCPR/Natcen, NOP and OPCS.
When the SSRC closed the Survey Unit in September 1976, I, along with several other colleagues, was made redundant. Luckily, in May of that year, I had been appointed Principal Lecturer in Sociology at the then Polytechnic of North London (now part of London Metropolitan University) to design and head up the Social Planning and Research option of a new four-year BA Applied Social Studies degree (the other option being Social Work) This was to be the first ever undergraduate degree specialising in the training of social researchers: students could also qualify for the Diploma of the Market Research Society provided they met certain criteria. The Council for National Academic Awards approved the submission first time round and the first undergraduates were admitted in September 1977. Graduates from this degree course now hold senior positions in social research in the UK including at least four professorial chairs.
In October 1976 I launched Survey Analysis Workshop (postgraduate, professional, hands-on, part-time, evening ) the first ever evening course in the Faculty, based on the survey analysis and SPSS elements of the SSRC Summer Schools in Survey Methods. There's a separate note on the history and development of the course. In Feb 1977, I also launched a sister course Survey Research Practice, taught entirely by senior practitioners from major research organisations.such as SCPR/Natcen, NOP and OPCS.
Survey Research Unit (1978 - 1992)
Following a proposal to set up a Centre for Applied Social Research the Survey Research Unit was formally established as a research unit of the Department of Applied Social Studies on May 1st 1978, with John Hall as Unit Director. Closely modelled on the SSRC Survey Unit (which had been closed by SSRC in 1976) and with very similar terms of reference, it provided advice and assistance on survey methods to academic, public and voluntary sector colleagues and attracted more than £1 million in externally funded research grants and contracts and around £400K in Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) funded research assistantships and fellowships, some of which came from small amounts of "end-of-year" money which, if unspent, would revert to ILEA..
The funded projects are listed in Survey Research Unit Projects 1978 - 1985 and Survey Research
Unit Projects 1985 - 1992.
Survey Research Unit: Staff
Research staff recruited and trained in SRU made significant contributions to teaching. Many of them, together with undergraduate students working in SRU as temporary assistants or demonstrators, went on to occupy senior positions in social research. At least seven became full Professors in UK universities.
SRU publications
There is an extensive list of publications and deriving from work done by SRU.
Survey data sets
Data from all surveys conducted by SRU were kept in SPSS saved files, along with questionnaires and associated documentation. Many data sets from 1986 and earlier have been irretrievably lost owing to PNL computer services spring-cleaning policy, but data from 1986 onwards have been preserved and are being catalogued and uploaded.
SRU also provided specialist post-graduate training in survey methods via two related postgraduate courses (part-time, evening) Survey Analysis Workshop and Survey Research Practice.
Following the withdrawal of ILEA rate-borne research funding and the "Harrington" affair, a new senior management imposed totally inappropriate business models and undermined the professionalism, autonomy and discretion of successful research entrepreneurs, many of whom, including John Hall, took early retirement in March 1992. The Survey Research Unit closed with immediate effect, as did both postgraduate courses, Survey Analysis Workshop and Survey Research Practice. The BSc Social Research was
discontinued a year later. (See: The place of SRU within PNL)
This website goes some way to filling the ensuing gap in provision.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Original terms of reference:
The Polytechnic of North London
Survey Research Unit (Unit Director: John F Hall MA Dip Ed.)
The Survey Research Unit offers specialist advice and assistance on all aspects of survey research. This includes research planning and costing, problem formulation, questionnaire design and sampling, as well as the related uses of statistics and computing for data analysis.
The unit was formally established as a research unit of the Department of Applied Social Studies on May 1st 1978 and its terms of reference are:
to make available advice and assistance to staff and students of the Polytechnic on survey research and
on statistical and computing applications in the social sciences.
to seek to respond positively to requests for appropriate research or research assistance by local
authorities and other bodies, particularly in the London area.
to seek funds for social survey research and related work to be based in the Polytechnic and to respond
to requests for assistance in preparing grant applications by staff seeking funds for similar work in other
departments.
Besides offering practical help and guidance, the Unit also conducts research for the Polytechnic, Government agencies, Community Groups, the Research Councils, foundations and other funding agencies. This has ranged from small-scale local studies to major national surveys, covering many different aspects of community activity and social policy.
The Unit is able to offer advice and assistance in computer processing and statistical analysis of new surveys or in secondary analysis of old ones and is particularly expert in the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
The Unit also runs two postgraduate level part-time evening courses:
.
Survey Analysis Workshop and
Survey Research Practice __________________________________________________________________________________
The funded projects are listed in Survey Research Unit Projects 1978 - 1985 and Survey Research
Unit Projects 1985 - 1992.
Survey Research Unit: Staff
Research staff recruited and trained in SRU made significant contributions to teaching. Many of them, together with undergraduate students working in SRU as temporary assistants or demonstrators, went on to occupy senior positions in social research. At least seven became full Professors in UK universities.
SRU publications
There is an extensive list of publications and deriving from work done by SRU.
Survey data sets
Data from all surveys conducted by SRU were kept in SPSS saved files, along with questionnaires and associated documentation. Many data sets from 1986 and earlier have been irretrievably lost owing to PNL computer services spring-cleaning policy, but data from 1986 onwards have been preserved and are being catalogued and uploaded.
SRU also provided specialist post-graduate training in survey methods via two related postgraduate courses (part-time, evening) Survey Analysis Workshop and Survey Research Practice.
Following the withdrawal of ILEA rate-borne research funding and the "Harrington" affair, a new senior management imposed totally inappropriate business models and undermined the professionalism, autonomy and discretion of successful research entrepreneurs, many of whom, including John Hall, took early retirement in March 1992. The Survey Research Unit closed with immediate effect, as did both postgraduate courses, Survey Analysis Workshop and Survey Research Practice. The BSc Social Research was
discontinued a year later. (See: The place of SRU within PNL)
This website goes some way to filling the ensuing gap in provision.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Original terms of reference:
The Polytechnic of North London
Survey Research Unit (Unit Director: John F Hall MA Dip Ed.)
The Survey Research Unit offers specialist advice and assistance on all aspects of survey research. This includes research planning and costing, problem formulation, questionnaire design and sampling, as well as the related uses of statistics and computing for data analysis.
The unit was formally established as a research unit of the Department of Applied Social Studies on May 1st 1978 and its terms of reference are:
to make available advice and assistance to staff and students of the Polytechnic on survey research and
on statistical and computing applications in the social sciences.
to seek to respond positively to requests for appropriate research or research assistance by local
authorities and other bodies, particularly in the London area.
to seek funds for social survey research and related work to be based in the Polytechnic and to respond
to requests for assistance in preparing grant applications by staff seeking funds for similar work in other
departments.
Besides offering practical help and guidance, the Unit also conducts research for the Polytechnic, Government agencies, Community Groups, the Research Councils, foundations and other funding agencies. This has ranged from small-scale local studies to major national surveys, covering many different aspects of community activity and social policy.
The Unit is able to offer advice and assistance in computer processing and statistical analysis of new surveys or in secondary analysis of old ones and is particularly expert in the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
The Unit also runs two postgraduate level part-time evening courses:
.
Survey Analysis Workshop and
Survey Research Practice __________________________________________________________________________________