US social scientists have long complained about the impact of the Common Rule, the main Federal regulation governing the ethical review of biomedical and behavioural research by Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). In 2011, the relevant Federal agencies announced a review, leading to the publication of revised regulations on the very last day of the Obama… Read More »

Diversity is a fetish among sociologists. No minority is too small, and few too deviant, for us to champion their case for recognition. In many ways, this is one of the nice things about our discipline. We start from an assumption of common humanity. Our evolutionary roots also underline the value of difference in adapting… Read More »

The text of my inaugural lecture as professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University has now been posted here. I have also added a note of the questions raised by the audience and of my responses – I will confess to polishing those after the event but the spirit has been retained.

At the risk of sounding opportunist, I thought I would post my own tribute to the genius of the late Andrew Sachs. This is a chapter that was originally commissioned for a conference in 1989, organized by Australian colleagues. Phil Strong had been invited but could not get out of various commitments and generously suggested… Read More »

In the UK, sociology has long had a poor public image. In contrast to the US, for example, we do not see car bumper stickers proclaiming the driver’s pride in their field of study. This lecture contrasts the mission of sociology as a science of society with its abuse to justify particular moral and political… Read More »

The IOSH research programme ‘Health and Safety in a Changing World’ is the subject of a special issue of Policy and Practice in Health and Safety. This contains six papers reflecting the work of the projects funded under the programme, together with an editorial introduction by Patrick Waterson, the journal editor, and myself. The programme… Read More »

The Sociology of Quality and Accountability is the third Virtual Special Issue of Sociology of Health and Illness, examining the Francis Reports into the failures of care at North Staffs Hospital. Robert Dingwall’s editorial introduces the challenges of developing appropriate regimes for quality and accountability in health care. The editorial also reviews 18 papers previously… Read More »

Mrs Seacole might be celebrated as a Black entrepreneur. For much of her life, until her health failed, she was a successful businesswoman and an adventurous traveller. Her kindness and generosity are well-documented. They are reflected in the support for two public appeals when she fell on hard times. In the way of her business,… Read More »

Commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), research teams conducted six studies to shed new light on modern-day worker protection at a time when health and safety has been lambasted in sections of the media and become the subject of reviews into its regulatory frameworks. The findings of IOSH’s five year programme… Read More »