Interested in all things defence? Take a peek inside our
Monthly Members' Newsletter
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For new friends, welcome! We are an interdisciplinary network of Masters, PhD and Early Career Researchers focused on defence, security and military topics concerning policy, strategy, history, culture and society. We hope you find our network interesting, exciting, informative, and supportive.
For old friends, thanks for your continued involvement. It is always worth remembering that we would be nothing without you! After enjoying the summer, we are back this September to share thoughts and discussions on 'Qualitative Research'. We have the latest from the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee on changes to their publications, some advice on semi-structured interviews, an update about our Counterinsurgency Forum as well as a bunch of recommendations in the form of podcasts and books.
Scroll down to get up to date with the news, opinions, events and opportunities from our members...
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Welcome to the Defence Research Network Newsletter!
Welcome back! After a pause over the summer we are now raring to go and delighted to welcome a new cohort of Masters and PhD students, in particular. This month we are all about 'qualitative research' and have lots to share with you from our own experiences and as recommendations for reading. A great place to start if you are just setting out with your research.
For those who are new to our network and perhaps reading our newsletter for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. Let us know what you'd like to see us doing and tell us what you are up to. We started out because we realised that we were missing things individually because no one person can keep track of all the calls for papers, events, articles and news but together we can share these things. And love nothing more that to hear from you about events you are running (or have seen advertised and think others would like to know about), work you have published or created (and it doesn't have to be an academic paper - we love to hear about blogposts, podcasts, images, exhibitions and more). You can get in touch on twitter (@DefenceResNet) and by email (defenceresearchnetwork@gmail.com).
And as we welcome those new to the DRN, we also say a massive thank you to our super former Co-Chair Jemma Humphries who is now heading off to America on the road trip of a lifetime with her husband and will be stepping back from the DRN (although she has promised to keep us posted on her travels!). Jemma is one of our longest standing committee members and has worked really hard to keep developing the DRN from developing our collaborations with other networks, keeping on top of the website and working on the foundations for our future plans. She has been a fantastic ally and friend and we wish her well (and hope to welcome her back on her return!).
Lucy Wray is now stepping up to Co-Chair with Hannah West and we are really excited to be working together with our dedicated committee to keep moving the DRN forward. We have lots of plans for the months ahead and look forward to sharing these in due course. For now, enjoy the newsletter, thank you all for your ongoing support and do talk to us about anything you need help with.
Hannah West and Lucy Wray
Co-Chairs of the Defence Research Network
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What we've been up to
Edited by Hannah West & Tamiris Santos
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Some words about the Counterinsurgency Forum by Hannah West
We have been running the ‘COIN’ Forum since 2019, bringing together early career academics, practitioners and policy makers every 6 months to share what we are all working on. This September saw us meet in person for the first time since before the pandemic (albeit with a hybrid dial in too). As ever we were kindly hosted by the Warfare Branch at Land Warfare Centre, Warminster and are grateful to Lt Col Rob Prentice for welcoming us and Maj Fraser McPherson for putting together the programme and running with all of the logistics.
Chatting at lunch, a few of us noted how we can be busy with other commitments and feeling the pressure of taking a day out of our programmes to take part in the forum can feel like time we can’t afford. But, something about stepping back from the minutiae of the everyday and giving ourselves space to see our research in the context of the bigger global strategic picture as well as hearing a policy-maker/practitioner response to our work always brings great value to making the time for this. And no matter what the perspectives of our research from the critical to the creative, we have always experienced a friendly and interested reception intent on constructive dialogue which is mutually beneficial to all involved.
The day was structured around a series of updates from Dr Beth Rebisz about her work on ‘villagisation’ in the Malaya Emergency, Dr Alex Waterman’s project about the representation of rebel forces in counterinsurgency doctrine, Colin Robinson’s investigation of the failures of Western Army reconstruction and my own research on British servicewomen’s involvement in counterinsurgency campaigns. We made a commitment to create a new webpage on the DRN website to present each of our research as well as updates about the forum so watch this space for more news on that! We really enjoyed all of the questions from our partners at the Land Warfare Centre who commented on how much they take from the discussion.
For those who have been following our forum updates, you will know that we got together in the summer at the National Army Museum to work up a plan for a Special Issue on ‘Reimagining COIN after Afghanistan’. This latest forum gave us the opportunity to hear an outline of each of the core papers being prepared for this and gather some useful feedback. We are preparing a submission for the European Journal of International Security call for Special Issues and the forum gave us a really great opportunity to explore the questions we wanted to ask with input from the Land Warfare Centre. We enjoyed a fascinating closing discussion about the relevance of counterinsurgency to warfighting with Russia which also informed our thinking in framing our Special Issue.
We are planning our next COIN Forum for February 2023 when we will be expanding out numbers to invite all of those contributing to the Special Issue as well as invited academics to give feedback on our papers. Do get in touch if you are an early career COIN scholars who would like to join the forum (defenceresearchnetwork@gmail.com).
Committee Members Dr. Sophy Antrobus and Dr. Hannah West shared their views on Critical Thinking in Professional Military Education in an article released by RUSI Journal
Aside from dealing with uncertainty on and off the battlefield, Sophy Antrobus and Hannah West highlight another common struggle within the military and among soldiers: listening to a "truly critical voice." They pose the following question to the readers right in the abstract: If critical thinking comprises "reason assessment" (understanding, analysing, arguing) and "critical spirit" (disposition, attitude of mind, culture), how does an institution that values, indeed relies on for its effectiveness, uniformity, and group identity, encourage diversity of opinion and develop the critical spirit of its people? That is the central issue that our DRN members discuss, sharing their views as two veteran women, as well as researchers on military, security, and defence.
The complete article can be accessed by clicking on the image below.
Committee Member Dr. Veronika Poniscjakova shared her views on women's imprisonment in Saudi Arabia on "In Conversation" website
Bringing the spotlight to other important themes apart from the war in Ukraine, Dr. Veronika discusses other issues at stake occurring in the Middle East. In this brief article, she shares her views on the severe freedom restrictions imposed by the Saudi government, which culminated in recent episodes of imprisonment of women but are merely the recent unfolding of long-term violations of human rights occurring in the region.
The complete article can be accessed by clicking on the image below.
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DRN Monthly Writing Group
Edited by Lucy Wray
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Friendly reminder for anyone who is stuck with writing:
DRN Monthly Writing Group is back in October!
After a lovely summertime with renewed energy, let's go back to the job!
The writing group is based around the principles of Murry and Newton (2009) and will take place online. The purpose is to create a community of writers (Grant, 2006) and a space in which you can focus on your writing.
The format for the group is as follows:
Duration is 2 hours:
1. 15 min welcome and SMART goal setting
2. 90 minutes of focused writing
3. 15 min review of goals i.e. have you achieved your writing goal aim.
You will be invited to turn off all of your distractions during this time, such as email and mobile phones. You will also be asked to turn off your microphone. A member of the DRN will manage the timings of the group and notify you when it is time to finish your writing.
The next writing group will take place on the 12th of October. This will be an evening writing group from 1900-2100 GMT. If you are unable to make the start of the group, please feel free to join and write your goal in the chat.
If interested in participating, please register via Eventbrite and a link will be emailed out to you closer to the time.
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Is there something such as "pure" science? And is there something like a correct way to analyse and proceed with defence studies? Despite being largely addressed, qualitative studies are always targets for criticism, particularly due to the possibility of subjectivism and open-endedness. However, how could only analysing populations address the military, warfare, operations, and the increasing complexity of defence? As an aggregate of several possibilities, studies in security and defence encompass not only quantitative research but also qualitative and mixed-methods research. Curious to know more about how qualitative research could support you on your errands?
Check out our tips next, including very important changes on research involving human participants, interviews and more...
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Significant changes to Defence Research Involving Human Participants: The Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (MODREC) Joint Service Publication 536
by Hannah West
August 2022 saw some significant changes to JSP 536 which we wanted to bring to your attention. Since the founding of the DRN, the subject of MODREC has come up repeatedly with those having been through the process sharing their experiences and advice. In particular, we have had many enquiries from undergraduate and Masters students looking to conduct research with serving military personnel for their dissertations and these changes are particularly relevant to that group as they now become out of scope for MODREC.
If you are considering research involving serving British military personnel (regular or reservist) then we would recommend starting with looking at Annex 1A, 1B and 1C of JSP 536 Part 2. We have included the first two of these here and the full document can be found at this link.
We have contacted MODREC in response to these changes and they advised us that if anyone is unsure whether their work falls under the scope of JSP 536, they can email Dr Piete Brown (DST-MODRECTeam@mod.gov.uk) with their query and the MODREC Sub-Committee will provide a non-binding opinion.
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Experience Using Semi-structured Interviews
by Veronika Poniscjakova
My PhD, which I completed in 2019, was of qualitative nature, and I used semi-structured interviews as my primary research method during my fieldwork in Israel.
As my PhD studied specific communities, I found qualitative interviews to be the most suitable method for my project - interviews are excellent for finding out people’s attitudes and values. This is not something that can be easily achieved through questionnaires. Interviews are about understanding subjects’ life experiences in great depth. I interviewed 21 people, which was a relatively small sample size. However, despite this, the number was big enough to be indicative of trends among the communities.
However, it should be noted there are some issues with interviews, especially with regards to validity, reliability and generalisability of interview data. On top of this, I encountered multiple challenges whilst I was undertaking my fieldwork, primarily related to access, trust-building, and language issues. I had to identify gatekeepers to introduce me to members of the communities I was studying. This, to some extent, affected representation and validity but led to snowballing.
Overall, there are some pieces of advice I would give to PhD students who are going to be doing interviews:
- If you are researching a specific segment of a population like I was, and you need to gain access to the communities, identify gatekeepers willing to introduce an outsider to the communities. Contacting academics and other well-connected individuals such as journalists can be useful. I also used snowballing in my interview. For instance, every time I finished an interview, I asked the participant to introduce me to other potential interviewees.
- If you are doing your research fieldwork abroad, and you want to be both culturally aware and also if you want to build rapport with your interviewees more easily, study the culture and the language. For instance, prior to coming to Israel, I had spent eight months taking Hebrew evening classes. Whilst I was not proficient in the language and unable to undertake interviews in Hebrew, acquiring at least a minimum proficiency helped me to build rapport with people and gain access to the communities.
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Articles and Books about Qualitative Research
By Tamiris Santos
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Coming soon: New book on Creative Methods in Military Studies
By Alice Cree
In this edited volume, we are animated by a concern with a few key questions; how might a turn to creativity in military studies help us to get closer to that which we critique? What can the creative arts and creative practice more broadly help to reveal, that we might struggle to approach otherwise? And how might we engage this creativity in our own research methodologies and practice? The volume explores path-breaking new research at the intersection of military studies and creative practice. It draws on a range of disciplinary approaches from political geography, international relations, sociology, and the creative arts to explore how creativity and creative methods can refresh our understanding of military power and militarised cultures. It asks; who ‘does’ creative research on and with militaries? What are the sites of creative inquiry in this area? What methods can we use? And what can creative practice bring to our understanding of militarised cultures that other methods cannot?
Each chapter of this volume defines creativity and creative practice differently, and draws on a unique case study ranging from theatre to dance to paper making in order to do this. However, a running theme throughout is an exploration of the critical space that being ‘creative’ can open up in military research. Through a variety of case study creative methods and projects, we explore how these new creative possibilities provide the opportunity for new forms of critique in military research. As such, this volume does not represent a ‘how-to’ guide for doing creativity and creative methods in military research. Rather, it provides researchers with the tools to trouble and think anew about taken for granted concepts such as militarisation, the sites of military power, and the civilian/military binary. In this way, the collection offers an important intervention in the study of global politics, militaries, war, and security.
Cree ASJ (ed.) (In press) Creative Methods in Military Studies. Rowman & Littlefield.
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September Twitter Hour: Qualitative Research Methods
Edited by Lucy Robinson
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This month’s #TwitterHour happened on Wednesday 28th September on the theme of ‘qualitative research methods’. We had a brilliant turnout, thank you to all who contributed! Below, we share the highlights. Let us know if you have resources, articles, events, books to recommend or share around this theme. #DefResChat
Question 1: What type of qualitative research methods are you currently using or have used in the past?
• CDA of media texts
• One to one online
• Used phenomenography for my PhD to explore PGCE secondary art and design trainees of working with visual impairment
• Looking forward to this evening's topic. I'm using photo-elicitation interviews within my research. Have really enjoyed getting to grips with the thinking informing the overall methodology #defreschat
• IPA methodology, individual interviews
• Excited to hear about all your methods. I work on an ESRC project, 'Conflict, Intimacy & Military Wives' with @AliceCree using theatre-as-method. #creativemethods have helped me to look at war and the military in new ways and as a tool to reflexivity. #defreschat
• For my PhD research, I’m using a range of creative methods (mainly graphic elicitation / pen to paper activities) accompanied by group discussion. #DefResChat
• I am a big fan of case studies and process-tracing (used in my PhD, along with semi-structured interviews). The last method was compared cases based on qualitative data of the organisational behaviour after the adoption of cruise missiles. #defencereschat
• My research area is cyber-enabled conflict, and I use a mixture of methods such as observational, simulation, and experimental
Question 2: Can you recommend any good readings about qualitative research methods?
• I absolutely love the work of Dawn Mannay @dawnmannay and Sarah Pink @pinkydigital. Although not military specific their work is detailed and highlights creative ways of working with people #Defresnet and a great resource is the @NCRMUK #DefResChat
• Look out for our “Creative Methods in Military Studies” book which will be published early next year with Rowman & Littlefield! Featuring chapters by me and @hannah_r_west, @Voiceofaveteran, @millslaurajayne, @thMnsandthInstr, @animating_space and many more!
• Lene Hansen's Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War because she spells out exactly what she did, which is so helpful (and sometimes a bit rare esp when it come to the analysis bit). #DefResChat
• May I immodestly suggest this. Over 30 cracking chapters, mostly written in the first person. [The Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork].
• Useful article #DefResChat [Sensitive, Challenging, and Difficult Topics: Experiences and Practical Considerations for Qualitative Researcher https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406922112473]
• Anything written by @ginnybraun and @drvicclarke! So very helpful for qualitative methods (https://thematicanalysis.net) and @REWacad et al's The Routledge Companion to Military Research Methods.
• My copy of “Research Methods for Cyber Security” has been indispensable
• Kara, H., Lemon, N., Mannay, D., & McPherson, M. (2021). Creative Research Methods in Education. This book is wonderful! A very engaging and accessible read. #DefResChat
• Yin, Case Studies!!
• Alan Bryman’s “Social Research Methods” from Oxford University Press is a very inclusive source for quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods. Absolutely recommended!
• Three good books:
• Michael Quinn Patton - Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods
• A. Strauss & J. Corbin - Basics of Qualitative Research
• Lawrence Neuman - Basics of Social Research
• Qualitative Methods in Military Studies: Research Experiences and Challenges
Question 3: What have been your experiences with ethics and qualitative research methods?
• Positive! Ethics and reflecting on what is best for those you are working with, appropriate and methodologically sound is a privileged of qual research. It's given me a whole new perspective #defreschat
• I've found that thinking about, and reading around, the ethical complexities of my research has really enriched my thinking and writing. It's made me far more aware of ethics as something continuous; rather than something discrete we do as researchers to gain ethical approval.
• All have been positive so far, with broad possibilities after seminar series and interviews. The latter are truly game-changing during the fieldwork :) #defreschat
• I have learnt to really value the power of conversation with other researchers about their methods, experiences and positionality - to learn and to be inspired about the possibilities. And to remember to look after not just the participants but yourself as researcher. #DefResChat
Question 4: Creative methods often fall under the umbrella term of 'qualitative research methods'. Have you used any form of creative methods in the past? This can include both during the data collection and as part of research dissemination.
• I'm also planning on using creative methods in my research dissemination. @dawnmannay et al.'s journal article has really inspired me! #DefResChat [Enabling talk and reframing messages: working creatively with care experienced children and young people to recount and re-represent their everyday experiences https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2018.1521375]
• I have really enjoyed how #creativemethods can help us to see things differently. I've tried photography, poetry, film, theatre, making and am excited to try many more. It is wonderful to work in collaboration with artists. @GillAJones @workietickettc #DefResChat
• Also, our latest collaboration has been with @NiftyFoxCreativ- check them out for live scribing and visual storytelling. #DefResChat
• @Changing_Story_ have a wonderful set of resources on arts based methods, check them out! @CreativeArtsRN @Mobile__Arts @ArtsCabinet @UCPResearch on Creating Safer Spaces as well.
• See outcome of our AHRC research project @RAFFylingdales using creative practice to acquire and analyse data [Home - Fylingdales Archive]
• Also see Cree for creative research and nuclear deterrence. Finally a short article about electronic music as method to investigate early warning radar https://inkstickmedia.com/purple-haze-the-psychedelic-sound-of-nuclear-deterrence/
• Currently doing creative practice-lead [painting] PhD “Drones, Signals & the Techno-Colonisation of Landscape”-examining increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum-as enabler of tech-type of fires-manoeuvre space & domain. Few book chapters forthcoming
• Recommend @VisualisingWar Uni of St Andrews podcast series & online Peace Museum for an array of creative practice initiatives that fall under research methodology. [Visualising War and Peace (buzzsprout.com)]
Thank you to everyone who took part!
 
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After all these tips about qualitative research, here comes one last golden tip:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the process of publishing your first academic book presented in Publishing with Bloomsbury workshop!
This workshop, delivered by Bloomsbury editors, covers the book proposal until the post-publication procedures, including tips for building a strong book proposal and reviewing your PhD thesis. The three one-hour sessions are identical, online, and will take place on different days and schedules. You can find out more about the workshop and how to register by clicking on the banner above or on this link.
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What we're reading
Edited by Veronika Poniscjakova
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Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies: A Global History
Kaushik Roy
This recently published book explores the origins of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies (COIN) from the sixteenth century onwards. It explains what kind of conflicts insurgents end up waging, including conventional war, guerrilla or terrorism. The book looks at different geographical areas with a focus on regions outside Western Eurasia. Furthermore, the book argues that the insurgents in the modern world had been motivated by a trinity: greed, grievances and ideology.
You can buy a copy here.
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A Question of Standing: The History of the CIA
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
This new book reflects on the most important events that shaped the CIA over the past 75 years, it notes the agency’s successes and failures and provides balanced conclusions on the agency’s work. Some of the events covered in the book include, for instance, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Vietnam War, the War on Terror, 9/11, the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and Fake News.
You can get a copy here.
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What we've been listening to
Edited by Hannah West & Tamiris Santos
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CIDCast, the IADC Podcast
This podcast of the Inter-American Defense College (IADC) focuses on the segments of Strategic Perspectives and Women, Peace and Security. The introduction of the new podcast hosts is available on this link. If you wish to access all episodes released so far, click on the link in the image above.
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Declassified - Documenting Military Stories
This podcast documents a wide range of stories coming from the military community, featuring several episodes. Episode 6 features the story of Louise Fetigan, a military veteran and loving wife sharing here experiences. To listen to this episode, click on this link. For the complete list of episodes, just click on the image above!
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Events...
Edited by Tamiris Santos
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Defence and Security Doctoral Symposium
Date: 09-10 November 2022
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Hosted by Cranfield University, the Defence and Security Doctoral Symposium provides research students and early career researchers in defence and security with an opportunity to present their work to a sector-wide audience. It covers both technological and social science research. The event also includes an exhibition space for industry and other employers of defence and security researchers. This event is designed specifically for researchers with an interest in defence and security research outcomes, including PhD and other research students and their supervisors, early career researchers, representatives from industry, government and other defence and security-relevant NGOs. If interested, you can find more in depth details here.
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BISA 2023 Conference
Date: 21-23 June 2023
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The next Conference of the British International Studies Association (BISA) is taking place is Glasgow in June 2023. In conjunction with the publication of the UN Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda, the Secretary-General proposed a Summit of the Future to coincide with the meeting of the UN General Assembly. Our Common Agenda provides a wide-ranging look at a variety of challenges facing the world today, along with proposed areas for development. While necessarily a high-level overview of such challenges, it can serve as an impetus for academics to consider what they may contribute to addressing such challenges. As such, it provides a useful organising principle for the BISA 2023 annual meeting. The call for papers is taking place soon - 10th October, 2022. Further details are available here.
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Opportunities...
If you would like to advertise any upcoming opportunities, please let us know via email.
Edited by Tamiris Santos
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Career and Internship Opportunities
Deadline: October the 15th, 2022 (for the internships) |
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The Counterterrorism Group (CTG) is composed of a worldwide team of dedicated specialists who are intelligence analysts; investigators; security specialists; anti-terrorism/counterterrorism specialists; emergency and crisis management experts; tactical experts; medical and mental health experts; and more with numerous years of law enforcement, military, intelligence community, security, emergency management, medical, psychological, and crisis experience. CTG has two full-time positions and four internship positions available. Further information regarding applications can be found at this link.
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Call for Submissions - Civil-Military Relations and Modern War
Deadline: October the 15th, 2022
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The Modern War Institute is pleased to announce its collaboration with the US Army War College Civil Military Relations Centre on a new, limited series of articles focused on the consequences of civil-military relations for contemporary strategic issues. They invite invite the academic community to submit your ideas for short essays that relate to this theme, whether at the strategic, operational, or tactical level. Potential topics include the implications of contemporary civil-military relations for challenges relating to military and Department of Defense recruitment, democracy and political polarization, decision-making processes, and professional norms, in the United States or elsewhere. More details here.
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Call for Submissions – Civil Wars Journal
Deadline: October the 30th, 2022 |
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A call for papers has been released by the Civil Wars Journal for a special issue commemorating the journal's 25th anniversary next year. Contributions will be accepted in a variety of formats, including book reviews and shorter research articles (up to 6000 words). More information about the themes, as well as how and to whom proposals should be submitted, can be found at this link.
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Call for Applicants - Irregular Warfare Initiative
Deadline: October the 31st, 2022 |
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A joint venture between Princeton University’s Empirical Studies of Conflict Project and the Modern War Institute at West Point, the Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI) is dedicated to bridging the gap between scholars and practitioners to support the community of irregular warfare professionals. Fellows play a critical role at the center of IWI’s mission. In addition to regular opportunities to engage with senior scholars and practitioners, IWI amplifies Fellows’ research and writing. Fellows obligations include authoring or co-authoring an article for IWI over the course of the year and participating in regular IWI events.Consider applying to join the 2023 Fellows cohort. The application form can be found at this link. For further information or questions, contact Gordon Richmond (IWI Fellowships) via email:
gordon.richmond@irregularwarfare.org.
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Call for Participants (Military Veterans)
(Online Survey for a research from London South Bank University) |
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Are you a military veteran who has been medically discharged from the UK Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve)? Would you be willing to participate in a research study focused on aspects of your physical activity, health and wellbeing?
This call is for military veterans who have been medically discharged from the UK Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve), to complete an online survey (link below), as part of an ongoing research of Professor Clare Pope, Head of Division at London South Bank University. Apart from being a professor, Clare is a physiotherapist who is genuinely interested in improving the health and wellbeing of medically discharged military veterans, having provided her personal background and volunteering at the Invictus Games in the United Kingdom in 2014.
The survey is anonymous and contains questions about your participation in physical activity, plus some health and wellbeing measures. You do not need to be physically active to take part, we need a broad range of participants. To complete and submit the survey should take no more than 20 minutes, full instructions, an information sheet and a consent form are in the link below. If you are unable to complete it yourself, you can have a person with you to complete your answers for you.
Link to survey: https://lsbu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/phdstudy1surveyclarepope
Password to access the form: WIS Veterans
If you would like to find out more about the research, be sent a link by email, or request a postal copy please contact Clare Pope on popec4@lsbu.ac.uk.
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VoxNations Schelling Grant in Support of Public Opinion Research
Next deadline: December the 15th, 2022 |
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VoxNations Schelling Grant is an internal partial matching grant that aims to promote and facilitate impactful and methodologically sound public opinion research. The research grant is currently accepting applicants for primary data collection in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other network countries, and aims to assist doctoral students, scholars, and faculty with the research costs of primary public opinion data collection (both quantitative and qualitative) in those countries. The applications are due by the 15th day of each quarter (15th of March, 15th of June, 15th of September, and 15th of December). Further information can be found at this link.
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Call for Participants
The Veterans and Families Institute
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The Veterans and Families Institute are currently undertaking a study exploring how RAF families communicate during periods of separation, in light of the rise of social media and online communication in the last decade. We are looking to speak to RAF children and young people 11-21 via online focus groups, and partners of currently serving RAF personnel with children aged under 18 via online individual interviews. Our aim is to better understand the positives and challenges of families’ communication today, and coproduce recommendations on how organisations can best support families’ virtual relationships. All participants will have the chance to win an Amazon voucher as thank you for their time. To find out more about taking part, please email abigail.wood@aru.ac.uk.
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As always, keep an eye on our Twitter for new events and opportunities posted/retweeted every day!
Planning a future event?
If you are planning a defence-related event and you would like to reach an audience of like-minded researchers, we'd love to come along! Drop us an email and we can include it in our next newsletter.
If you are interested in any of our events but don't want to go alone, or simply want to expand your network, please reach out on Twitter or drop us an email and we can connect you with fellow DRN members who may be planning to attend.
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November theme: Policing and Private Security Companies
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We hope you've enjoyed our news, tips and recommendations so far. In case you missed our previous newsletter editions, check out our archive section here!
As usual, we will be looking to showcase some early-career researchers in research spotlights in the newsletter so don't be shy! And we welcome any suggestions for 'in conversation with' pieces with more established academics working in this area. And let us know about any relevant events, from book launches to webinars. We'll keep an eye on our Twitter account to keep you posted!
Keep an eye on @DefenceResNet for more information and check out the website for a preview of the questions for the next #DefResChat. You can also find all our previous #DefResChats on the Archive section of our website. Make sure to tag @DefenceResNet and hashtag #DefResChat to join the conversation.
See you soon and many thanks for being part of our network!
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Do you have a blog or publication you would like to promote? Don't hesitate to share it with us via email and we can add it to our newlsetter.
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Thank you so much for joining our network.
Have you recently won an award, had your paper published, launched a book or are you organising an event? We want to hear from you! We are always looking for new content for our newsletter and would love to showcase the great work of our members.
For queries, more information, or just to tell us about yourself, don't hesitate to contact us on Twitter @DefenceResNet or at defenceresearchnetwork@gmail.com
The DRN team
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