SOS research help needed for Constituent

Steve Barker of Tiddington, Oxford, urgently needs some help for his Doctoral research at Oxford Brookes University Business School into

the effect of involuntary redundancy on attitudes to work in future jobs.

To date, no one has looked into this, and the results could be very far reaching.


He’s had great help from Amicus the union and the results so far look very interesting. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

He tells me:

“I’m looking for people who have been made involuntarily redundant in the past but now have jobs. I need them to fill in a short online survey, and possibly volunteer to take part in an interview. As you can imagine, total anonymity will be guaranteed.

I have been advertising the research in various places using the wording below:

‘Oxford Brookes University researchers are conducting research into how the experience of involuntary redundancy may affect attitudes to work.
If you have been made involuntarily redundant in the past but are now in employment, you are invited to take part in this important research. This involves filling in an online survey form which should take 5 minutes to complete, and if you wish, volunteering to be interviewed.
Total confidentiality is guaranteed. For further details and the online survey please go to http://www.stephenbarker.co.uk or email Steve Barker at sbarker@brookes.ac.uk.'”

I promised Steve that I would help publicise it as he’s really struggling to get sufficient participants to make the research meaningful.

Good luck Steve!

16 thoughts on “SOS research help needed for Constituent”

  1. Barry, where are you hiding?

    and Scaryduck..not to be forgotten either..

    c’mon boys – crack on with the survey (only takes about 2 minutes)…!

  2. I did it, anonymously, for which I was glad as you could choose to view the results and see everyone’s comments if they choose to volunteer for a followup.

  3. Unfortunately, I’ve never been made redundant from any job which would make it rather difficult to speak from experience.

    I’ve also recently registered myself in Dorset South, the UK’s most marginal seat, as it happens. Alas, Boris is no longer my MP.

  4. Melissa—

    It can go either way down here, but sitting MP Jim Knight is already preparing himself for the worst despite the hard work he’s put in since ’97. I’d give Ed Matts a tentative thumbs up – I suppose you’d call him New Tory.

  5. Lori, ure a gem

    Jim Knight? really… not sure what he’s been up to. Will be watching the Dorset South seat result with interest on election night!

  6. Thanks to Boris and Melissa. Details of my research only went on this web site last night, and already the responses are coming in very nicely!

    Thanks also to everyone who has responded. It looks like I will now get enough participants to make the study meaningful.

    As for those who have yet to respond… PLEASE… I really need to hear your stories!

  7. Steve, would you consider those outside Oxfordshire, ie Midlands, Surrey, Kent, Essex? districts beyond? as far as the Western Isles? or is it quite strictly Oxfordshire area predominantly

  8. A study of the effect’s of involuntary redundancy. Don’t make me laugh. To take part in this I would first have to find a job which would offer me involuntary redundancy. Ah..sweet to be unemployed in Blair’s Britian.

  9. Surely all Steve have to do is wait a few weeks and he’ll have a whole bunch of potential responses from former Labour MPs who’ve been made involuntarily redundant. We can but hope.

  10. Melissa – I’ve only broached the subject because it fits in well with the involuntarily redundant, and that Mr Howard seems to have in mind a scraping of the awful new deal system, which although it may well work with some does not work well with others. I’m wondering what Mr Haward will replace New Deal with thats if he will replace it! But then again anything has to better then New Deal even if it’s replaced with nothing.

  11. Melissa, Yes, I’d be interested to hear from anyone in the UK. The Oxfordshire focus will come in when it comes to selecting amongst those who volunteered to be interviewed.

    Since you did the survey, I have stopped the possibility for people to see the open-ended replies, so there can be no privacy problems. People can still however view the multiple choice results.
    Thanks again,
    Steve

  12. I suppose , should the leader widen his sphere of sacking offences, Boris could very well be a reincarnatin of Tom Baker( but not so that he would become typecast)

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