About us

Research Training Centre: 50 years of methodological contributions in the Social Sciences

At the Research Training Centre, we apply expertise in a diverse set of social science methods through teaching and research to contribute new insights to the key challenges in society.

The Research Training Centre is based in the School of Social and Political Science, bringing together our key methods initiatives of Q-Step, AQMEN and NCRM, to build on a long tradition of contributions in the development and application of social science methods.

Our core aims are to:

provide training in a broad range of social science methods to staff and students in Edinburgh and beyond
apply rigorous social science methods to societal problems in ways that make impact
generate new research contributions through cutting edge social science methodological development and innovation
(co)develop mixed methods approaches to address structural intersectional inequalities

Meet the team

Dr Alan Marshall
Director of The Research Training Centre

Alan is the founding Director of the Research Training Centre having previously directed Edinburgh Q-Step Centre (2017-19) and the CALLS-Hub initiative.

Dr Roxanne Connelly
Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Quantitative Methods

Roxanne is a sociologist who uses quantitative research methods and longitudinal data to study social inequalities.

Dr Emma Davidson
Lecturer in Social Policy and Qualitative Methods

Emma is an expert in the analysis of qualitative data; developing techniques to think about, handle and analyse large volumes of complex qualitative data.

Nicola Wilson
Research Training Centre Administrative Officer

Nicola has extensive experience of managing a busy schedule of training and knowledge exchange events, working with partners in academia and beyond.

Dr Claire Houghton
Lecturer in Social Policy and Qualitative Research

Claire is an expert on gender based violence research using qualitative methods. She works extensively with young people, government and the third sector to create policy impact.

Dr Helen Packwood
Lecturer in Social Research Methods

Helen has considerable expertise in mixed methods research, her work combines longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data to explore inequalities.

Dr Kevin Ralston
Lecturer in Sociology and Quantitative Methods

Kevin is a specialist in quantitative data analysis and has published extensively on statistics anxiety and quantitative analysis of social inequality.

Dr Sophie Haines Programme Director of the Social Research MSc

Sophie is an anthropologist of development, environment, science & technology and the current Programme Director of the Masters in Social Research.

Meet the affiliates

Our affiliates span the School of Social and Political Science and beyond, contributing directly to our teaching, events and research and knowledge exchange activities.