In a general sense I am concerned with how the social and spatial complexities of individual behaviours can be represented and understood within a framework of quantitative social science and computer modelling. My research extends from a geographic tradition of area classification and I have developed a broad critique of the ways in which geodemographic methods can be refined through modern scientific approaches to data mining, geographic information science and quantitative human geography.
A series of themes which have emerged through this research include:
- Optimisation of the algorithms used to create geodemographic classifications
- Making the specification, estimation and testing of geodemographic classifications explicitly spatial
- Devising bespoke geodemographics that are appropriate to particular applications
- Enabling public participation in area classifications
- The computation of online geodemographics that are updateable in real time using diverse data sources scattered in remote locations, and the ascription of appropriate lables to the resulting classes
- Development of methods to assess the performance and intersection between different types of area classification
More recently I have begun to examine how patterns of social capital are manifest within online communities. I am particularly interested in how social capital accumulated through networks of actors in virtual spaces reflects or contradicts those patterns of supposed homogeneity derived by area classification in “real” space. I argue that for area based classification to remain a useful tool for geographic analysis, new methods are required which account for the interactions between both “virtual” and “real” spaces.
Finally, I have specific domain interests in how best to represent the multiple dimensions of social, spatial and temporal processes which shape access to Higher Education in the UK. A full and contextualised understanding of these concepts is acutely important to the stakeholders (pupils, universities, schools) of Higher Education for effective decision making. The agendas of widening participation, extending access and institutional marketing share common challenges to devise better ways of reaching potential students who are appropriately qualified and motivated to pursue and successfully complete the full range of institutional course offerings. University and college marketing initiatives are often unsystematic, even serendipitous, in the ways in which they identify schools and colleges for outreach and widening participation initiatives, and sometimes uncoordinated in how they present the full institutional profile of subjects of study in these activities. Thus, a core objective of my research has been to set out some relevant aspects of the changing Higher Education policy-setting arena and to present a systematic framework for widening participation and extending access in an era of variable fees. This research has involved collaboration with numerous data partners including UCAS, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
