‘Men, Poverty and Lifetimes of Care’ or (MPLC) has employed a novel methodology, using ESRC Timescapes project data from two studies that have already bee conducted in order to explore the possibilities of using existing qualitative longitudinal data to develop research design. The two existing studies, which MPLC is now affiliated with are Following Young Fathers (which developed from heritage data in the Young Lives and Times study) and Intergenerational Exchange.
Timescapes was a programme of research and methods development funded under the ESRC Changing Lives and Times initiative between 2007 and 2012. The original programme comprised a network of seven empirical studies carried out by researchers across five UK universities:
- Siblings and Friends – which tracked the lives of fifty children from mid-childhood to young adulthood.
- Young Lives and Times – followed young people into early adulthood.
- The Dynamics of Motherhood – looked at what it means to be a mother in the 21st century.
- Masculinities, Identities and Risk – explored the change involved in fatherhood.
- Work and Family Lives – explored the ways families reconcile work and family lives over time.
- Intergenerational Exchange – generated insights into how grandparents support and care for their grandchildren in a low income area.
- The Oldest Generation – was concerned with the dynamic nature of older people’s relationships and identities.
The seven studies shared substantive interests in people’s personal lives and family relationships and, adopted a dynamic view to explore how these relationships unfold through time and across the life course. Collectively, these studies have amassed a wealth of information about change and continuities in relationships, identities and how these are experienced in different social, economic and historical and cultural contexts.
A specialist Archive of data generated by the above studies, was established in 2010 to support primary secondary users to explore and expand upon established modes of qualitative longitudinal research. This unique, multi-media archive continues to grow, with the incorporation of further QL datasets.
To find out more about Timescapes, the project website has a wealth of information including how secondary users might access datasets: www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk