Researcher - Enhancing Democratic Habits

Reporting to Professor Linda Mulcahy, the post holder will be a member of the
Access to Justice cluster at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Faculty of
Law, University of Oxford. More specifically they will be working with a small
team of experienced researchers who are undertaking an oral history of the law
centres movement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This project is being
run in partnership with Queens University Belfast, the British Library and the
Law Centres Network. It is funded by the AHRC and this four year project is
now in its final year. The audio recordings being produced by the research
team are due to deposited in the British Library together with an archive of
Law Centre annual reports and campaigning materials.





The successful applicant will manage their own research and administrative
activities, within guidelines provided by senior colleagues. This will include
(a) making digital copies of Law Centre Annual Reports and other documents
prior to deposit with the British Library by 28 June 2024; and (b) assisting
with administrative tasks, data management and other record keeping associated
with transfer of documents and audio recordings to the British Library at the
conclusion of the project; contribute to wider project planning, including
ideas for new research projects; select, follow, and adapt specialist
methodologies to confirm or refute theories, and identify suitable
alternatives where information or research material is restricted and
contribute to the design of research materials and make arrangements for data
gathering and analysis. This will involve assisting with coding and initial
content analysis of research material and assisting with content summaries of
the life story recordings prior to transfer to the British Library at the
conclusion of the project.





Applicants should hold a first degree and Masters in law, the social sciences
or humanities, together with some relevant experience; working toward a
doctorate in a specialist discipline or other commensurate experience; Possess
sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to work within established
research programmes; ability to manage own research and administrative
activities; excellent communication skills, including the ability to write
text that can be published, present data at conferences, and represent the
research group at meetings. Experience of working in a research team and
contributing ideas and undertaking oral histories or using and collating an
archive is desirable.




This post is full time and fixed term from 1 June 2024 until 31 December 2024.
The postholder will be based at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Manor
Road, Manor Road Building, OX1 3UQ





Closing date for applications is midday on Thursday 2 May 2024. Interviews
will take place week commencing 13 May 2024