Martin Bulmer: an apostle for quantification in sociology

This contribution summarizes Martin Bulmer’s role in spreading among sociologists an interest, and a facility, in the basic use of quantitative techniques, both by his teaching at the London School of Economics and in other institutions where he was employed, but also to the sociology profession in Britain more generally. It also discusses his crucial role in expanding the scope and influence of the journal, Ethnic and Racial Studies, moving it from a niche publication to being one of the major English-language journals in its field

British democracy at the crossroads: voting and party competition in the 1980s

Those who keep a finger on the pulse of British democracy often announce that the patient is in a critical state. In the 1970s, the diagnosis most often came from the right, with dire warnings of the debilitating effects of social democracy. Since the 1979 election, it is those on the left who are pessimistic, pointing to an insidious authoritarianism that threatens democratic values. Therefore, a book which maintains that a major turning point in British politics has been reached is not, in itself, particularly rare. What sets British Democracy at the Crossroads (originally published in 1985) apart, however, is the breadth and depth of its analysis. It breaks the mould of conventional political science by marrying a study of voting in the 1983 election (using a specially commissioned survey) with a detailed presentation of the context in which the election took place, including analyses of the dynamics of political parties, of the role of the news media before and during the campaign, and other important issues. This markedly different approach to the subject allows the book to serve two valuable functions. It provides a clear and concise introduction to the various methods of electoral analysis, which will be welcomed in the classroom and lecture theatre. Also, by drawing on modern political theory, it develops a distinctive radical perspective on the interconnected themes of party competition and electoral behaviour, contesting many of the assumptions that underlie the orthodox accounts of electoral dealignment. This is a challenging and stimulating book that no one with an interest in the future of democracy in Britain can afford to ignore

Michael Parker Banton: an appreciation of his life’s work

This article is an appreciation of the contributions to ethnic and racial studies and to British sociology in general of Michael Parker Banton. It reviews his career and also his major publications, including also arguments against him made by his principal critics and his responses to these. It points out the specificity of his contributions and argues for his unique importance in defining and developing the field of ethnic and race relations in British sociology during the second half of the twentieth century and into the present century. It also mentions his many contributions to public life

Ethnic and Racial Studies: an outline history of forty years of publishing the research agenda on ethnic and racial issues

Ethnic and Racial Studies [ERS] began publishing in 1978. Over the following forty years it developed in terms of its editorial arrangements, its format, the types of contribution published, the characteristics of its author contributors, the characteristics and methodologies of its articles, the topics that they described, and the countries whose circumstances they covered. The article describes these developments, mostly analysed by quinquennia; one issue of particular salience has been the increased feminization of the Editorial Board and of the corpus of authors. The article also discusses how book reviewing has been an important part of the journal’s history, leading to the establishment in 2014 of Ethnic and Racial Studies Review

The QuinteT Recruitment Intervention supported five randomized trials to recruit to target: a mixed-methods evaluation

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of the Quintet Recruitment Intervention (QRI) on recruitment in challenging randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have applied the intervention. The QRI aims to understand recruitment difficulties, and then implements ‘QRI-actions’ to address these as recruitment proceeds.Study Design and SettingA mixed-methods study, comprising: a) before-and-after comparisons of recruitment rates and numbers of patients approached, and b) qualitative case studies, including documentary analysis and interviews with RCT investigators.ResultsFive UK-based publicly-funded RCTs were included in the evaluation. All recruited to target. RCT2 and RCT5 both received up-front pre-recruitment training before the intervention was applied. RCT2 did not encounter recruitment issues and recruited above target from its outset. Recruitment difficulties, particularly communication issues, were identified and addressed through QRI-actions in RCTs 1, 3, 4 and 5. Randomization rates significantly improved post-QRI-action in RCTs 1,3, and 4. QRI-actions addressed issues with approaching eligible patients in RCTs 3 and 5, which both saw significant increases in patients approached. Trial investigators reported that the QRI had unearthed issues they had been unaware of, and reportedly changed their practices post QRI-action.ConclusionThere is promising evidence to suggest the QRI can support recruitment to difficult RCTs. This needs to be substantiated with future controlled evaluations

Book review : Parsons, Althusser and Foucault were oncedemigods of the social sciences, but is therestill room for them in the 21st century?

Over the past century, the field of sociology has experienced extraordinary expansion and vitality. But is this growth positive or negative – a promise of diversity or a threat of fragmentation? This critical volume explores the meaning of sociology and sociological knowledge in light of the recent growth and institutionalization of the discipline

'An attorney's bill of costs': how did it become protected from disclosure by legal professional privilege?

This article examines the process whereby two mid-nineteenth legal cases are still cited by some contemporary authorities, particularly Halsbury, for the proposition that lawyers’ bills for professional services as a class of documents are protected from disclosure by legal professional privilege. It examines these two cases in the context of what can be discovered from other sources about the persons involved to test to what extent the reliance on them for this purpose remains, or ever was, justified. The article then presents a meta-analysis of all discovered texts on evidence and discovery published between the date of the first of the two cases and the date of their enshrinement with their current status in the first edition of Halsbury (and essentially repeated in all later editions to the current one). It shows how limited was the use of these two cases in the books on evidence and discovery published during the period of analysis. The article concludes with some critical observations on what the analysis shows about legal methodology

German-/Austrian-origin professors of German in British universities during the First World War: the lessons of four case studies

The treatment received during the First World War by four German-/Austrian-origin Professors of German at four different higher-education institutions in England and Wales is considered, looking at how their fates were determined both by factors within their institutions and also externally by the relevant apparatuses of the local and national state. These are Julius Freund at Sheffield, Albert Wilhelm Schüddekopf at Leeds, Robert Charles Priebsch at University College London, and Carl Hermann Ethé at University College of Wales Aberystwyth. The rather different fates of each are explained using a number of criteria, including their history of naturalization, their support among their academic colleagues, the strength of local feeling concerning their continued employment by their institution, the role of their institution’s governing body, and whether or not the local municipality had significant control over their institution’s finances. It is concluded that, for each case, a different and aleatory individual factor largely determined his fate, thus vitiating any general explanatory principle that might have been derived from a comparative analysis of the respective situations