Research focus

Research in Social & Health Sciences

The School of Social and Health Sciences has long been associated with excellent, innovative and theoretically strong research, often with an applied focus.  Current research covers areas such as: load carriage, sports performance, counselling, public sociology, forensics, human-computer interactions, evolutionary and biological psychology.  School staff are involved in collaborative work both within Abertay and with colleagues across the globe.  School staff are organised into cross-disciplinary research groups, each with a clear focus and strategic direction.

The key characteristic of the research within the school is the focus on understanding people and how they fit into the wider society.  This may be achieved through the examination of individual behaviour, the behaviour of groups, the study of society itself as well as comparative and cross-cultural studies.  The quality of research has been recognised in research assessment exercises, media attention and through external funding and high quality publications.

Research and teaching are indivisible parts of what defines a University, and we are proud that research underpins all of our taught courses.  Students gain opportunities to benefit fromt he research activity going on within the school, both as part of their formal studies, or by taking part in our well-established research volunteer programme.

These research web pages provide a flavour of the dynamic and exciting research going on within the school and we hope that you will find them both interesting and informative.  Should you require any more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Dr Scott Hardie, Director of Research

s.hardie@abertay.ac.uk

The F Factor - Food, Fitness AND Fun

 

My research interests are in relation to health and fitness, and accordingly I have been investigating measures of health and fitness in the Abertay populace along with school children in the local community.

 

Data generated from these investigations help students understand the application of research methodology and analysis of data, along with informing students about current states of public health. I am also currently collaborating with some colleagues to develop a summer school activity - The F Factor (Food, Fitness and Fun) - which aims to tackle the issues of weight control with local schoolchildren by getting participants to consider adopting personal healthy eating and activity interventions.

I've been a lecturer in Exercise Physiology for 12 years. I am also a qualified nurse, working in Accident and Emergency before becoming a junior sister in Coronary Care, and lecturing student nurses for 8 years.

 

Interested in this? Why not look at our Sports and Nursing courses?

Dr Fiona Gabbert - Division of Psychology

Abertay-led team develops new tool to 'freeze' crime-scene memories

 

Freezing crime scene memories by using the latest cognitive psychology techniques could be crucial in helping solve cases and support witnesses. This recent study involved myself, Dr Lorraine Hope (University of Portsmouth) and Professor Ronald Fisher (Florida International University).

Witnesses used a self-administered interview (SAI) to 'freeze' images and details of the crime scene and the perpetrators in their mind. Often small and seemingly insignificant details turned out to be crucial in solving cases.

Tests at simulated crimes scenes showed that witnesses using the tool reported 42% more information that was forensically relevant and accurate than other witnesses who were simply asked to 'report as much as you can remember'. The tests also revealed that witnesses using SAI recorded 44% more personal details about other people - i.e. possible suspects - who had been involved in the event.

In another test, researchers waited seven days after an event before asking witnesses to provide a full account. Half of the witnesses had completed SAIs just after the event, while the others had given only their names and contact details. A week later, those who had completed the SAI were still reporting almost 30 per cent more accurate details than those who had not.

Our team worked with police forces in Scotland and England to develop the witness 'recall and report' tool to record memories at the earliest possible opportunity - at the scene of the incident.

Interested in this? Why not look at the Psychology and Forensic Psychobiology courses?