Sue Heath
Co-director Morgan Centre
Email: Sue.Heath@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)161 275 2493
Biography
I am a Professor of Sociology and a co-director of the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life. I joined the University of Manchester in September 2010, having previously worked at the University of Southampton since 1998, where I was co-director of two ESRC Research Centres: the National Centre for Research Methods and the Centre for Population Change. I started my lecturing career in the Sociology Department at Manchester in the mid-1990s, and before that worked as a researcher in various posts around the North West.
Research interests
I have long had a fascination with processes of household formation, with a particular interest in the domestic and housing transitions of young people as they move from youth to adulthood. These processes are central to understanding the changing nature of contemporary youth transitions, and I am interested in the implications of these changes for friendship, partnership formation and broader intergenerational relations. I am currently involved in two projects which reflect these interests, both part of the work programme of the ESRC Centre for Population Change. The first project focuses on the housing pathways of single young adults and the extent to which these are underpinned by support from family members and friends. The second project is concerned with the impact of household and family formation on the (re)migration decisions of Polish migrants living in the UK.
I also have longstanding interests in research methodology and the sociology of education. In relation to the former, I am particularly interested in research ethics and the methodological challenges of researching youth. In relation to the latter, my interests have included gender and education, the pre-university gap year, and widening participation in higher education.
Publications
Books
Heath, S. and Walker, C (eds) (2012) Innovations in Youth Research, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fuller, A., Heath, S., and Johnston, B (2011) Rethinking Widening Participation in Higher Education: The Role of Social Networks, London, Routledge
Heath, S and Walker, C (Eds) (2012) Innovations in Youth Research Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Heath, S., Brooks, R., Cleaver, E. and Ireland, E. (2009) Researching Young People's Lives, London, Sage
Devine, F and Heath, S (Eds) (2009) Doing Social Science: Evidence and Methods in Empirical Research Palgrave
Heath, S and Cleaver, E (2003) Young, Free and Single. Twenty-Somethings and Household Change Palgrave Macmillan
Crow, G and Heath, S. (Eds) (2002) Social Conceptions of Time. Structure and Process in Work and Everyday Life Basingstoke: Palgrave
Devine, F and Heath, S (1999) Sociological Research Methods in Context Macmillan
Heath, S (1997) Preparation for Life? Vocationalism and the Equal Opportunities Challenge Aldershot, Ashgate
Deem, R., Brehony, K. and Heath, S (1995) Active Citizenship and the Governing of Schools Open University Press
Selected journal articles and book chapters
Heath, S., McGhee, D. and Trevena, P. (2011) 'Lost in transnationalism: unraveling the conceptualisation of families and personal life through a transnational gaze' Sociological Research Online, November 2011
Wiles, R., Coffey, A., Robison, J. and Heath, S. (in press) 'Anonymisation and visual images: issues of respect, 'voice' and protection'. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, forthcoming
Heath, S., Fuller, A. and Johnston, B. (2010) 'Young people, social capital and network based educational decision-making' British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31, 4, 395-411
Heath, S., Fuller, A and Johnston, B (2009) 'Chasing Shadows? Exploring network boundaries in qualitative social network analysis', Special Issue of Qualitative Research, 9, 5, 645-661
Heath, S (2009) 'Young, free and single: alternative living arrangements', in A.Furlong (ed) Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood: New Perspectives and Agendas London: Routledge
Heath, S (2009) 'Full-time UK-based volunteering and the gap year' Youth and Policy, 101, 33-41
Heath, S (2008) 'Housing choices and issues for young people in the UK' ,York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Wiles, R., Crow, G., Heath, S., and Charles. V (2008) 'The management of confidentiality and anonymity in social research', International Journal of Social Research Metholodology 11, 5, 417-428
Heath, S (2007) 'Widening the gap: pre-university gap years and the 'economy of experience',British Journal of Sociology of Education 28, 1, 89-103
Heath, S., Charles, V., Crow, G. and Wiles, R (2007) 'Informed consent, gatekeepers and go-betweens: negotiating consent in child and youth-orientated institutions', British Journal of Educational Research 33, 3, 403-17
Wiles, R., Crow, G., Charles, V., and Heath, S (2007) 'Informed consent and the research process: following rules and striking balances' Sociological Research Online 12, 2
Crow, G., Wiles, R., Heath, S., and Charles, V (2006) 'Research ethics and data quality: the implications of informed consent' International Journal of Social Science Methodology 9, 2, 83-95
Wiles, R., Charles, V., Crow, G. and Heath, S (2006) 'Researching researchers: lessons for research ethics' Qualitative Research 6, 3, 283-299
Heath, S and Cleaver, E (2004) 'Mapping the spatial in shared households: a missed opportunity?’, in C.Knowles and P.Sweetman (eds) Picturing the Social Landscape, London: Routledge.
Heath, S (2004) 'Shared households: quasi-communes and neo-tribes' Current Sociology (special issue: Beyond the Conventional Family: Care, Intimacy and Community in the 21st Century) 52, 2, 161-179
Heath, S and Kenyon, E (2001) 'Single young professionals and shared household living' Journal of Youth Studies 4(1), 83-100
Kenyon, E and Heath, S (2001) 'Choosing This Life: Narratives of choice amongst house sharers' Housing Studies 16 (5) 619-635
Heath, S (1999) 'Young adults and the household formation in the 1990's' British Journal of Sociology of Education Vol 20. No. 4