Further Particulars
This document includes information about the role for which you are applying and the
information you will need to provide with the application.
1. Role details
Vacancy reference:
7584
Job title:
Research Associate
Reports to:
Head of Department of Psychology
Salary:
£29,972 – £31,798 per annum according to
qualifications and experience
Terms and conditions:
Academic and Research Staff
Grade:
AC2
Duration of post:
Temporary 24 month contract
Working hours:
Full-time - 37 hours per week
Location:
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Closing date:
12 noon on Thursday 01 December 2011
Type of application form accepted:
Full version
Number of referees required:
3
Unit recruitment contact:
The Recruitment Co-ordinator 01908 654483,
email [email protected]
31/07/2017Page 1 of 8
2. Summary of duties
Main duties of the post:
To work as a Research Associate on the OU funded project Transdisciplinary Psychosocial
Approaches to Paradoxes in the Process of Practice: Transforming tensions between logics of
care, justice and health. The project involves a team that includes Professor Paul Stenner and
Dr Johanna Motzkau (OU Psychology) and Dr Monica Greco (Goldsmiths College, University
of London). The duties will include:
(1) Identifying and mapping a small number (no more than 3) of related practice domains that
will provide the objects for a detailed study of practice as process. Broadly, these will be
situated in the areas of child welfare and justice and of medically unexplained symptoms. Final
decisions on these sites would be made early in the course of the RAship in collaboration with
the postholder.
(2) Conducting preliminary scoping research on these domains, including literature reviews
(e.g. researching the history of debates, policy provision and intervention relevant to the
selected sites) and interviews with key actors.
(3) Sourcing funding possibilities and preparing at least one funding application for the
programme (involving up to three sub-projects).
(4) Contributing to the publication of at least one paper on transdisciplinary psychosocial
practice research.
Background to the project:
The RA post will contribute directly to consolidating and advancing the Psychosocial
Programme of the Centre for Citizenship, Identity and Governance. This will help to enhance
the profile of OU Psychosocial research by enabling the integration and strengthening of
research within the Psychology Department, by facilitating links with the other social sciences
feeding into CCIG, and by developing external collaborations. The contribution would feed into
the establishment of a distinctively ‘OU’ dialect of transdisciplinary psychosocial research.
The Psychosocial Programme within CCIG constitutes one of the leading research groups in
this emerging international field. An important strand of research is the development of a
transdisciplinary psychosocial approach to social psychology, also known as a ‘relational
process approach’ (Stenner, 2011, Brown and Stenner, 2009, Stenner and Taylor, 2008,
Motzkau, 2009). This approach in turn builds on an empirical body of critical psychological
studies concerned with recognising and representing forms of lay knowledge, evidence and
experience (and articulating their relationship with ‘expert’ knowledge and evidence) in various
contexts. The RA would contribute to developing a programme of research addressing this
dimension in practice, in collaboration with a broader network of researchers including Dr
Johanna Motzkau (OU) and Dr Monica Greco (Goldsmiths).
The programme would comprise up to three inter-related projects (see below) focusing on
fields of practice characterised by stalemates or dilemmas associated with underlying
paradoxes or double-binds (see the ‘paradox/paralysis’ dynamic in Stenner, 2005 and 2006).
Such stalemates typically result in a polarisation and ossification of positions, but also hold the
potential for creative innovation. In short, there are four recognisable moments to the process
of practice in these fields: paradox, paralysis, polarisation and pattern shift. The research
programme would aim to develop a meta-perspective by documenting the first three and by
developing methodologies to facilitate pattern shift in each of the fields of practice under study.
31/07/2017 Page 2 of 8
Below are listed three examples of fields characterised by polarised scenarios that suggest the
fruitful application of a transdisciplinary psychosocial approach to practice as process. The
problems in each are psychosocial in the following senses: they concern the mutual implication
of forms of subjective experience and broader societal rationalities of practice mediated by
various forms of ‘evidence’; they concern the social life of psychological knowledge in so far as
each allocates a contentious yet pivotal role to ‘the psychological’ (attributions of suggestibility
and psychosomatics); they involve communities that cohere around the hotspots associated
with scenes of troubled recognition and paralysed action trajectories; and they each involve
complex affective scenarios. These problems call for transdisciplinary attention since the
paradoxes and conflicts involved arise from the gaps, voids or interstices between distinct
(disciplinary) rationalities, and hence the limits of disciplinary knowledge. The problems in
each case, as it were, hang suspended between rationalities and disciplinary logics (between
psychological science and law; between evidence-based medicine and clinical experience;
between functions of care and gate-keeping).
1
Motzkau’s (2009, 2011) work has focused on legal practice, where practitioners face
the problem of assessing the credibility of witnesses, a problem that is especially thorny in
connection with child witnesses due to their supposed ‘suggestibility’. The problem remains
acute, despite a long history of policy provisions that attempt to manage it. With the aim of
opening up spaces for progressive change, Motzkau has proposed a methodology of mapping
the voids, paradoxes and blind-spots that emerge in the relationship between the distinct
rationalities (legal and psychological) at play in these practices.
2.
Stenner’s research with Christine Dancey and others (2009, 2000, 2000) on the ways
in which irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers make sense of their symptoms points to
another field of practice marked by strongly polarised positions and frequent situations of
stalemate. Many IBS sufferers characterise health professionals as obstructive and illinformed, and such judgements are in turn influenced by the perception that health
professionals construe IBS sufferers as illegitimate patients with psychological issues. Where
Motzkau’s work raises issues of subjectivity and authenticity in relation to memory, Stenner’s
work on IBS does so in relation to the contested status and authenticity of symptoms and their
provenance. Both cases thus raise questions of how contested credibility plays itself out and
gets negotiated in interactions between professionals and patients / witnesses, through the
mediation of various forms of evidence.
3.
Greco (2011) has recently addressed this phenomenon at the level of the
nomenclature and diagnostic categories at play around medically unexplained symptoms
(‘MUS’) more generally. She discusses the need to ‘loosen the polemical knot’ that often ties
health professionals and people with MUS together in a situation of conflict, and draws
attention to the paradoxes which appear to generate this situation (such as the paradox that
categories like MUS simultaneously presuppose and disavow psychological attributions). With
MUS practice this scenario is compounded by the fact that MUS constitute a limit to
authoritative medical knowledge, and it is precisely at such thresholds that psychology typically
operates to fill the ‘knowledge void’ (in this case, often compounding the situation with
propositions interpretable as a rejection of symptoms as ‘only psychology’).
The Research Associate would be expected to work towards the development of this area of
research, as part of a team of collaborators headed by myself and including Dr Johanna
Motzkau and Dr Monica Greco (Goldsmiths College). This funded position would contribute
directly to work that would strengthen the Faculty’s REF submission, and lay a platform for a
longer-term programme of research.
31/07/2017 Page 3 of 8
Job Specification
The person appointed will be expected to contribute to the research and academic
development of the Department, Faculty and University in the following ways:


To contribute, as specified, to the programme of work outlined above, including associated
administrative, data management, and liaison duties.
More broadly, to contribute to activities and events complementary to ongoing research in
the Department, Faculty and associated research centres, and to take an active,
productive role in our research community at the OU.
3. Person specification
Essential Characteristics (it will be essential for the successful candidate to be able to
demonstrate evidence of the following):







A PhD or equivalent research experience in a field relevant to the project
Highly developed qualitative research skills
An excellent grasp of transdisciplinary psychosocial theory
An ability to produce work to agreed deadlines
Communication and organizational skills necessary for collaborative work
A commitment to equal opportunities policies and practices
A commitment to Open University values
Desirable Characteristics (additionally, it will be desirable for the successful candidate to be
able to demonstrate evidence of the following):


Experience with external grant applications
Experience with writing for publication on themes that ‘cut across’ disciplines
4. Role specific requirements e.g. Shift working
None
5. About the unit/department
The Faculty of Social Sciences
The Department of Psychology is located in the Faculty of Social Sciences. This is one of eight
Faculties and Schools.
The Faculty of Social Sciences encompasses six social sciences departments: Economics,
Geography, Politics and International Studies (POLIS), Psychology, Social Policy and
Criminology, and Sociology. Faculty central academic staff consists of around 100 staff based
at Walton Hall who have the prime responsibility for research, module production and
curriculum planning (supported as necessary by project officers, curriculum managers,
research assistants, administrators, secretarial and clerical staff, and technicians). A further 34
regional academics act as staff tutors and are involved in the recruitment, monitoring and
support of tutorial staff from bases in all 13 Regional/National Centres, as well as contributing
to the module production, curriculum planning and research effort of the Faculty.
31/07/2017 Page 4 of 8
The Faculty plays major roles in several of the University Centres of Research Excellence,
including The Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance and The International Centre
for Comparative Criminological Research.
The Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG)
http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/ccig/index.html
The International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR)
http://www.open.ac.uk/icccr/
The Faculty also hosts, jointly with the University of Manchester, the ESRC Centre for
Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC). See: http://www.CRESC.ac.uk/
The Faculty made two main submissions in the 2008 RAE in Sociology and Geography, both of
which were ranked as having 55% at world class (4*) or internationally excellent (3*). We also
made a significant contribution to the cross-faculty submission in Development studies where
45% were ranked as 4* or 3*. Details surrounding these submissions have now been
published on the HEFCE website at http://submissions.rae.ac.uk/submissions/ We are
looking to build on this success in future REF submissions.
There is a vigorous intellectual life in the Faculty fostered by these shared research interests as
well as by collaborative teaching. The departments work together and with other Faculties to
produce a range of modules. More information about the work of the Faculty of Social
Sciences and the range of University research programmes can be found by visiting the
following sites:
http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/
http://www.open.ac.uk/research/
The Psychology Department
The current academic members of the Psychology in Social Sciences Department, with their
position and current research interests, are:
Central staff (i.e. based at Walton Hall)
Dr Meg Barker
Senior Lecturer. Sexualities and relationships, particularly
bisexual, SM and non-monogamous sexual communities.
Existential and mindfulness psychotherapy. Visual research
methods.
Dr Nicola Brace
Senior Lecturer: Developmental and theoretical aspects of face
processing, witness identification evidence including facial
composite construction.
Dr Gemma Briggs
Lecturer: Attention, perception and dual-tasking abilities. The role
of expectations in perception.
Dr Jovan Byford
Senior Lecturer: Relationship between social psychology and
history; Social psychological exploration of historical issues and
historical material; social remembering and forgetting;
antisemitism; cross-cultural analysis of conspiracy theories.
31/07/2017 Page 5 of 8
Dr Rose Capdevila
Lecturer: The construction and transgression of identity
(particularly gender and political identities), political psychology,
qualitative approaches and the politics of methodology.
Prof John Dixon
Prejudice, conflict and racism; intergroup contact and
desegregation; everyday understandings of socio-political change
(notably in Northern Ireland and South Africa); the relationship
between place and identity; spatial boundaries and intergroup
relations.
Dr Alison Green
(Psychology Programme Director) Senior Lecturer: Theoretical
and applied research on thinking, problem solving and skill
acquisition, including practice learning. Applications for verbal
protocol analysis. Cognitive psychometrics. The OU Psychology
Virtual Participant Panel.
Dr Virginia Harrison
Lecturer: Applied and theoretical aspects of face perception and
recognition, including the development of expertise, the role of
motivation and attention, and in-group/out-group effects.
Dr Catriona Havard
Lecturer: face recognition, face matching, and the more applied
aspect of eyewitness identification, especially with children,
adolescents and older adult witnesses. Also perceptual biases in
face recognition.
Dr Claire Hewson
Lecturer: Folk psychology, lay theories and beliefs, internet
research methods, e-learning.
Dr Mary Horton-Salway
Lecturer: Discursive psychology as applied to medical discourse,
illness narratives, self-help group discourse and tutorial talk.
Dr Helen Kaye
Lecturer Cognitive learning theory, contextual effects in Pavlovian
conditioning, spatial learning
Dr Darren Langdridge
Head of Department, Senior Lecturer: Construction of sexualities
and masculinities, phenomenological/narrative psychology and
existential-phenomenological psychotherapy.
Dr Gail Lewis
Reader: Psychosocial perspectives on racialised gendered
subjectivities, discourses of citizenship, welfare and nation,
psycho-dynamics of group process, ‘experience’ and embodiment
as a site and source of learning.
Dr Jean McAvoy
Lecturer: Discourse analysis, subjectivities, moral orders, and the
management of trouble and dilemma.
Dr Kesi Mahendran
Lecturer: Young people and the labour market. Unemployment,
citizenship and governance. Dialogue and self. Dialogue between
practice, evidence and policy.
Dr Johanna Motzkau
Senior Lecturer: Discursive psychology, methodology, theoretical
psychology (process philosophy, Deleuze, Stengers),
suggestibility, memory, childhood, sexual abuse, child witnessing,
psychology and law (international perspectives on
evidence/expertise).
31/07/2017 Page 6 of 8
Dr Hayley Ness
Lecturer: Applied cognitive psychology: perception of and
memory for faces, particularly in eyewitness settings; facial
composite construction; issues concerning visual evidence and
juror decision-making.
Volker Patent
Lecturer: Innovation in e-learning, emotions and learning, support
of learning, formative and developmental assessment, graduate
employability and skills, organisational trust and HR, assessment
centre evaluation
Prof Graham Pike
Applied cognition and forensic psychology, particularly face
perception and eye-witness identification.
Dr. Rosalind H. Searle
Senior Lecturer: Team composition and behaviours, trust in
teams, innovation and creativity, the impact of technology on
selection.
Prof Paul Stenner
Critical, discursive, theoretical and historical psychology and
psychosocial studies. Social affectivity (especially jealousy and
envy). Active ageing and critical aspects of health related quality
of life. Ordinary understandings of human rights. Relational
process ontology. Q methodology.
Dr Stephanie Taylor
Senior Lecturer: Narrative-discursive constructions of identity,
including creative identities and place-related identities.
Dr Jim Turner
Lecturer: Face perception and memory; eyewitness identification
and evidence; facial composite construction in police settings.
Dr Andreas Vossler
Lecturer. Counselling psychology.
Regional Staff
Dr Jane Barrett (London)
Research methodology including systematic review
and questionnaire design; action research in the
context of online teaching; social relationships
Sue Carter (Manchester)
Relationships at work and how they affect
performance and satisfaction/happiness
Dr Troy Cooper (Cambridge)
Social psychology of illness, especially eating disorders
and addiction.
Dr Anastasia Economou (Oxford)
Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, counselling adults
with disabilities, psychodynamic counselling, crosscultural counselling, online counselling, mindfulness
based therapy, conservation psychology.
Karen Hagan (Belfast)
Autism. Construction of personal identity using
techniques such as PECs (picture exchange
communication system)
Dr Caroline Kelly (East Grinstead)
Social identity, intergroup relations and participation in
collective action.
31/07/2017 Page 7 of 8
Madeleine Knightley (Bristol)
Adult learners' personal identity; Adult students’
experiences of learning using new technologies
Dr Bianca Raabe (Newcastle)
Young people, identity and the study of citizenship, role of
counselling in the workplace
Dr Mark Smith (West Midlands)
Syntax; the unity of the proposition; language and
thought.
6. How to obtain more information about the role or application process
If you would like to discuss the particulars of this role before making an application please
contact Professor Paul Stenner by email at: [email protected]
If you have any questions regarding the application process please contact the Recruitment
Co-ordinator on 01908 654483 or email [email protected]
7. The application process and where to send completed applications
Please ensure that your application reaches the University by: 12:00 noon on
Thursday 01 December 2011
Post it to:
Name/Job title: Lynda Lynn, Recruitment Co-ordinator
Department/Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences
Address:
Room 140 Briggs Building
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
Post Code:
MK7 6AA
Or e-mail your application to: [email protected]
8. Selection process and date of interview
The interview panel will be chaired by Dr Darren Langdridge, Head of Department and Senior
Lecturer in Social Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences. The other members of the interview
panel will be Prof Paul Stenner, Professor of Social Psychology and Dr Janet Fink, Senior
Lecturer in Social Policy.
The interviews will take place week commencing 09 January 2012 at Walton Hall, Milton
Keynes.
In addition to an interview, the selection process for this post may include submission of
articles or other examples of written work and a presentation on your research to the
department.
We will let you know as soon as possible after the closing date whether you have been
shortlisted for interview. Further details on the selection process will also be sent to
shortlisted candidates.
Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
31/07/2017 Page 8 of 8