Thematic guide: health studies
The study of health and illness is diverse and complex. Researchers in this field
have debated issues of social change and the ways in which they have challenged
the traditional approaches to health and illness. In particular the proliferation
of new technologies designed to modify the human body and significant medical advances
have affected the way society views health and how individuals subjectively experience
their bodies. Some of the historical changes that have occurred in health care are
examined in Blaxter's classic study 'Mothers and Daughters: Accounts of Health in
the Grandmother Generation, 1945-1978'.
Gittens’ study on 'Severalls Hospital: Interviews for 'Madness in its Place', 1913-1997'
offers a fascinating insight into life in a large psychiatric hospital in Essex
and presents a social history of British psychiatric care in the twentieth century.
The picture above is one of many from an extensive collection of photos archived
with this collection and held at ESDS.
Health studies research has also been used to inform and improve current health
care practices and health care management. An empirical analysis of the policy process
in the NHS was carried out in Exworthy and Powell's study, 'Understanding Health
Variations and Policy Variations, 1999', in which they examined how policies on
health inequality were developed, instigated and evaluated.
ESDS has web pages to aid researchers looking specifically for data on health and health behaviour:
Searching for related materials
|
The ESDS catalogue can be searched for data on health studies using subject terms
such as:
|
- mental illness
- hospitals
- medical profession
- drug abuse
|
- health risks
- medical care
- sexual behaviour
- ethics
|
An ESDS qualitative focused search can be carried out at:
Every data collection is accompanied by comprehensive documentation. These are open
access and available to the public from the website and it is not necessary to be
a registered user to access and download them.
The content of the documentation varies by collection, but usually includes information
such as the initial proposal, interview schedule, description of methodology, end
of award report, and so on. In some cases more details are provided, such as the
coding schemes of the original researchers or examples of the consent forms used.
Other resources on health studies
- Centre for Public Policy and Health - University of Durham
- Institute of Medical and Social Care Research
- Joint Information Services Council (JISC)
- Medical Research Council
- World Health Organisation
Summary of selected qualitative studies on health
|
Study name
|
Coverage
|
Topics
|
Blaxter, M.
This enhanced qualitative collection looked at the beliefs and attitudes to health
and medical care, inter-generational relationships, and the social history of members
of a grandmother generation. Grandmothers were asked extensive questions about their
own health and the health of other family members.
|
Sample: women in a Scottish city who had a child between 1950-1953
Data: 46 interviews
|
- child care
- elderly
- family life
- gender role
- health
|
Exworthy, M. and Powell, M. A.
This study undertook an empirical analysis of the policy process in the NHS, in
order to examine how policy towards health inequalities is formulated and how that
policy is translated vertically into local policy. How and why local policies differ
within health authorities and other agencies was also considered, and how these
initiatives are evaluated at local level.
|
Sample: stakeholders in health authorities and health policy groups.
Data: 44 interviews
|
- attitudes
- health services
- local government
- policy making
|
Nettleton, S.
This project investigated the views and day to day experiences of medical clinicians
and examined how they are being shaped by ongoing social, policy, organisational,
and technological transformations. It was an exploratory study which aimed to develop
a sociological understanding of the views and experiences of doctors working within
the National Health Service.
|
Sample: doctors working in the North of England, 2005-2006
Data: 50 interviews
|
- employment
- health services
- local government
- policy making
|
Kerr, A.
This qualitative project explored the social and discursive construction of ethics
in research laboratories and clinics working with human embryos. The study contributed
towards understanding scientific governance in contemporary society, focusing upon
the multiple ways in which ethics are played out in the clinic and the laboratory,
and the relationships between these types of 'everyday ethics' and ethical discourses
in other professional, political and public domains.
|
Sample: staff working in assisted conception units and embryo research laboratories.
Data: 13 interviews
|
- assisted conception
- health
- ethics
- embryos
- science and technology
|
Gittins, D.
This research is based on the life stories of patients and workers at a large psychiatric
hospital in Essex and presents a social history of British psychiatric care in the
twentieth century. This collection is archived with an extensive collection of photographs
and architectural plans of the hospital.
|
Sample: past and present Severalls' staff and patients
Data: 30 interviews (plus 56 image files)
|
- hospitals
- mental health
- institutions
- health
- medical history
|
De Visser, R. and Smith, J. A.
The aim of this study was to explore the influence of men's beliefs about masculinity
on their social behaviour, particularly that related to their health. Rather than
making the assumption that masculinity is 'bad' for men's health, this study sought
to interrogate the links between masculinity and health, and to see whether masculinity
is a 'package deal' of behaviours, or whether men are able to forge their own identities
and their own patterns of masculine (and non-masculine) behaviour.
|
Sample: young men resident in London during 2003-2004
Data: 31 interview transcripts and 5 focus group transcripts
|
- health
- gender roles
- youth
- masculinity
- identity
|
www.esds.ac.uk help@esds.ac.uk
Print options
