Newham In The Spotlight For National Research
6 September 2011
Dr Sariya Contractor embarked on the latest stage of her research around the country looking into religious beliefs.
A major national research project into the experiences of communities and individuals about religion or belief, discrimination and equality is about to focus its attention on a London borough.
Newham is the latest location for the fieldwork being conducted by the University of Derby which is leading a three-year study investigating how the attitudes and experiences of different religious and belief groups in England and Wales have changed since 2000. This is in light of the changes that have taken place during the last ten years in the law, among religions and in society.
Derby is working with academics from the University of Oxford and The University of Manchester on the three-year study entitled: Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality in England and Wales, Theory, Policy and Practice, 2000-2010.
The latest study will build on previous Home Office commissioned research led by Derby (1999-2001) entitled: Religious Discrimination in England and Wales which found evidence of unfair treatment especially in education, employment and the media; particularly as reported by Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. Newham also featured as a research location for that study.
Paul Weller, Professor of Inter-Religious Relations at the University of Derby, is the Principal Investigator for the latest study. The study has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and is part of the joint Religion and Society research programme.
Also on the research team is Dr Nazila Ghanea, Lecturer in International Human Rights Law and a Fellow of Kellogg College at the University of Oxford, and Dr Kingsley Purdam, Research Fellow in the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research at The University of Manchester.
University of Derby researcher Dr Sariya Contractor, has this week embarked on the latest stage of the research, and will be visiting the neighbourhoods, streets and suburbs of Newham until 30 September.
She will seek to build up as detailed a picture as possible of local people's experiences, and understanding of issues to do with equality and discrimination, on the basis of religion or belief to feed into the overall study.
She has already conducted research in Cardiff, Leicester and Blackburn, and after Newham, the final destination will be Norwich in October.
Sariya said: "This is a major national research project and I am looking to capture the experiences, views and feelings of a wide range of groups and individuals as part of the work. I will be involved within the community to gauge views and build as comprehensive a picture as is possible."
As well as talking with people from a wide range of religious traditions, communities and groups Sariya will, in each location, be organising a focus group of around a dozen participants who understand themselves to be 'non-religious'. She will also conduct interviews with participants from a variety of civil society, public, private and voluntary sector organisations.
Sariya will approach a range of organisations to seek out participants to take part in the research. She is also willing to hear from people living and/or working in Newham who may be interested in taking part. She can be contacted in Newham, via her email which is S.Contractor@derby.ac.uk
Sariya joined the University of Derby having completed a PhD at the University of Gloucestershire, related to Muslim women being given the opportunity to tell their stories and how these stories could facilitate inter-community dialogue and social cohesion.
The Religion and Society research programme has been supported by the two research councils (AHRC and ESRC) with a contribution over six years of £12m to fund research of the highest quality, on the inter-relationships between religion and society.
The Religion and Society Programme aims to foster collaborative research across the arts, humanities and social sciences; to build capacity in the study of religion; to engage interested parties in academia and beyond; to further promote understanding of religion in a complex world. The programme started in January 2007 and will end in December 2012.
Other research approaches being used in the study include a postal questionnaire; a comprehensive review of relevant data from various sources such as the 2001 Census and the Home Office Citizenship Survey; and a series of national seminars to take place next year with key individuals from religion and belief organisations, the law, the public, private and voluntary sectors.
For more details about the project please visit the project website at: www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-society.
For more information contact Deputy Head of Corporate Relations Simon Redfern on 01332 591942 or 07748 920038 or email s.redfern@derby.ac.uk
