SASS Staff

Dr Sam Hillyard

Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Applied Social Sciences

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 46836

Room number: 32 Old Elvet: Room 204

Biography

I joined the School in 2006 and taught qualitative research methods in the School of Education between 2007-9. Prior to Durham, I studied at Warwick University (BA, PhD, Sociology), researched at Lancaster University (researcher, ESRC project 00 23 7661, PI: Professor Rosemary Deem) and held lecturing posts at Keele University (UK) and the Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society (Nottingham University).

My work is informed by an enduring commitment to applied sociology, specifically the synergies between theoretical ideas and empirical ethnographic research. This interest has been applied across a variety of research settings: senior academics in UK universities; senior policy makers and members of the farming and veterinary communities; social science research on game shooting in the UK and; the role of the school in rural communities.

My professional activities include membership of the editorial board of the journal Sociological Research Online and formerly of Ethnography and Education and I regularly review for: Qualitative Research; Sociologia Ruralis; Human Ecology; Environment and Planning: A; the Journal of Rural Studies; Sage; Palgrave; Policy Press; and; Sociology. I am also a member of the ESRC's peer-review college (2010-14) and became editor of the book series, Studies in Qualitative Methodology (Emerald), in 2012. I welcome enquires about book proposal for this series.

I have attracted funding from the ESRC, the University of Nottingham, the Rural Economy and Land Use programme (ESRC, NERC, BBSRC) and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Stemming from this work have been a number of books: on fieldwork with Professor Pole (forthcoming 2013); on rural sociology (sole-authored); managerialism in UK universities (with Professors Deem and Reed) and; edited a volume on theory and ethnography (New Frontiers in Ethnography) and am editing a four-volume collection on fieldwork for Sage (2013).   

Most recently, with Professor Carl Bagley (Education, Durham), I was PI on a recently completed ESRC funded project exploring the micro-politics of rural schooling and communities (ESRC no. 000 22 3412). Carl and I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in two, English rural villages – challenging whether schools are at the heart of such communities. The project contrasts north Norfolk and North East locales, employing a variety of theoretical ideas attempting to capture the social, political-economic and spatial dynamics at play. Carl and I welcome all enquiries about the project (c.a.bagley@durham.ac.uk). I also concluded an additional piece of field research following on from an ESRC-funded project exploring managerialism in UK universities. This explored the career backgrounds, trajectories and decision-making of a handful of UK social science academics. Currently, I am devising a fieldwork agenda with colleagues here in Durham and UWA to explore ‘boomtowns’ and entrepreneurialism in remote contexts.

I currently supervise (with colleagues both in SASS and in Education) a number of PhD and Ed.D students. Enquiries from prospective research students interested in the above fields or related topics are most welcome.

Research Projects

Rural schooling and the micro-politics of community. A study of two English, rural villages and their schools.

The research sought to explore the impact of policy change at the local level in two rural village communities and their schools. It used these case studies to see how large-scale policy impacted upon everyday lives. The project hence drew upon an array of qualitative methods, including archival and primary sources (such as interviews). Operationally, the research worked through five packages:

Examining the current role and centrality of the school within two contrasting English rural villages
Exploring the role and significance of the school inside the community over the past fifty years
Evaluating as far as possible the sustainability of each school and instances of good practice or concern relating to the school’s future success (indeed, survival)
Situating and examining educational provision in relation to other core services (such as health, housing, transport, policing, technology and retail)
Exploring the schooling experience offered to pupils, staff and parents in a rural setting.

Grant Start Date: 1st April 2009 - Grant End Date: 30th September 2011

Publications

Books: authored

Deem, R., Hillyard, S. & Reed, M. (2007). Knowledge, Higher Education, and the New Managerialism: The Changing Management of UK Universities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hillyard, S.H. (2007). The Sociology of Rural Life. Oxford: Berg.

Books: sections

Hillyard, S. (2012). The role of forced serendipity in qualitative research: the ethics of researching rural schools. In Ethics and qualitative research. Love, K. Emerald.
Hillyard, S.H. (2009). Divisions and divisiveness and the social cost of fott and mouth disease: a sociological analysis of FMD in one locality. In From Mayhem to Meaning: the social and cultural impact of foot and mouth disease in the UK in 2001. Doring, M. & Nerlich, B. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Journal papers: academic

Bagley, C. & Hillyard, S. (2013). Rural schools, social capital and the Big Society: A theoretical and empirical exposition. British Educational Research Journal
Hillyard, S. & Burridge, J. (2012). Shotguns and Firearms in the UK: A Call for a Distinctively Sociological Contribution to the Debate. Sociology 46(3): 395-410.
Hillyard, S. (2011). Ethnography’s capacity to contribute to the cumulation of theory: a response to Hammersley. Oxford Review of Education 37(6): 811-814.
Bagley, C. & Hillyard, S. (2011). Village Schools in England: At the heart of their community?. Australian Journal of Education 55(1): 5.
Hillyard, S. (2010). Ethnography's capacity to contribute to the cumulation of theory: a case study of differentiation-polarisation theory. Oxford Review of Education 36(6): 767-784.
Hillyard, S. (2010). Ethnography's Capacity to Contribute to the Cumulation of Theory: A Case Study of Strong's Work on Goffman. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 39(4): 421-440.
Hillyard, S.H. (2007). 'As relevant as banning polo in Greenland'. The absence of ethnographic insight into country sports in the UK. Qualitative Research 7(1): 83-101.