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Dr Chris Playford

Senior Lecturer (Sociology)

Clayden 1.07

Office Hours

Term 2 2023

Tuesdays  3pm - 4pm

Fridays      2.30pm - 3.30pm

By appointment either in Clayden or online - please email to request. 

 

Research Interests

I am a quantitative sociologist working in the fields of social stratification and the sociology of education. My work has focused on modelling the role of family background on educational attainment with a substantive interest in inequality and disadvantage. I specialise in the secondary analysis of large-scale survey and administrative data. I have methodological interests in a range of statistical techniques including generalised linear and mixed models, latent class analysis and multiple imputation of missing data. In a previous role I researched child development and emotional well-being. I have also published work on research reproducibility.

 

Previous Research Projects

Co-investigator. "Parental Social Class and Filial School Level Educational Outcomes in Contemporary Britain: Analysis of Understanding Society and Administrative Data." [with Dr Roxanne Connelly and Prof Vernon Gayle]. Economic & Social Research Council Secondary Data Analysis Initiative (SDAI). £174,000. Oct 2018 - Oct 2020.

In this project we will examine and extend the range of occupation-based social class variables in Understanding Society. We will then explore variation in educational outcomes of young people by these measures.

 

Modules taught in previous academic years

SOC2021 - Understanding Social Inequalities

SSI1005   - Introduction to Social Data

Research group links

Research interests

Working Papers

Burton, J., Connelly, R., Couper, M.P., Crossley, T.F., De Vries, C., Gayle, V., Hanson, T., Jäckle, A., Lynn, P., Martin, N., McGee, A., Playford, C., Pudney, S., Sobolewska, M., Taylor, L., Walzenbach, S. and Wenz, A. (2019) Understanding Society Innovation Panel Wave 11: Results from methodological experiments, Understanding Society Working Paper 2019-03, Colchester: University of Essex.

Playford, C.J., Dibben, C. & Williamson, L. (2017) The relationship between educational outcomes and family socioeconomic position in Scotland: the role of low birthweight and child development. SLS Research Working Paper 12. Longitudinal Studies Centre Scotland: Edinburgh/St Andrews.

Gayle, V., Playford, C.J., Connelly, R. and Murray, S. (2016) Between the NEET and the tidy - Exploring 'middle' outcomes in Scottish school qualifications. CPC Working Paper 76, ESRC Centre for Population Change, UK.

Gayle. V. and Playford, C.J. (2014) The concealed middle? An exploration of ordinary young people and school GCSE subject area attainment. CPC Working Paper 51, ESRC Centre for Population Change, UK.

Ralston, K. Connelly, R. Murray, S. Playford, C. (2010) Methods in Survey Design to Improve Response Rates: A Review of the Empirical Evidence, School of Applied Social Science Working Paper.

Research supervision

I currently supervise work involved quantitative modelling of educational and occupational inequalities in the UK. This includes studies of social stratification, occupational origins and destinations, and educational attainment. I am particularly interested in studies which attempt to better understand the pathways and routes young people take from education into the labour market and the influence their family background has had on the skills they develop and the decisions they make.

My main field of expertise is in using British survey and administrative data to investigate inequalities in the educational outcomes of young people in UK. I am developing an interest in the routes taken by young people at the end of school, particularly those who do not continue to university.

Biography

Prior to coming to Exeter I was a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh working in the Administrative Data Research Centre - Scotland (2014-17). I gained my PhD in Sociology (2011) and MSc Applied Social Research (2007) from the University of Stirling. My undergraduate degree was MA (Hons) Management (2003) at the University of St Andrews. I have also worked for a number of organisations in the private sector.

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