Dr Bob Matthews

 

Lecturer in Social Policy

Applied Social Studies

Dr Bob Matthews

Contact details

Telephone +44(0)121 414 5718

Email r.n.matthews@bham.ac.uk

School of Social Policy, Institute of Applied Social Studies
Muirhead Tower, Room 818
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

About

Bob is part of the Social Policy Undergraduate Teaching Group where he teaches Social Inclusion and Comparative Social Policy and has an input to other modules

Qualifications

  • AssocRICS
  • FHEA
  • PhD
  • BSocSc(Hons)

Biography

Bob spent 24 years working as a surveyor before deciding to pursue an academic career via an Access to Social Work Course and a first-class undergraduate degree in Social Policy, along with the Social Studies and Francois Lafitte prizes. He supported himself through this by working part-time for the Probation Service.

Subsequently, he gained an ESRC Studentship for his PhD which was entitled Mixed Ethnicity, Healthcare and Healthcare Experiences.

Recent international work includes

  • Subject Specialist for a new Postgraduate Degree at the Siberian State Aerospace University, Krasnoyarsk.
  • Assessor for the Estonian Higher Education Assessment Centre.
  • Visiting Professor, Nankai University, Tianjin, PR China.
  • Keynote Speaker, 50th International Anniversary Conference  of the Korean Academy of Social Welfare, Seoul, S Korea.

Teaching

Currently, Bob teaches Postgraduate Research Methods, Social Inclusion and Comparative Social Policy. Some of this work is in collaboration with colleagues from other parts of the Department. Bob has a particular interest in teaching about qualitative data collection and analysis.

Research

  • Comparative Social Policy
  • The interface between health and ethnicity.
  • Health Inequalities and Comparative Health Policy
  • Research Methods.
  • Social Inclusion

Publications

Brannelly, P M and Matthews, B (2010), 'When Practical Help is Valued so Much by Older People, Why do Professionals fail to Recognise its Value?, Journal of Integrated Care, Volume 18, Issue 2, April 2010: 33-40.

Matthews, B and Ross, L (2010), Research Methods: A Practical Guide for the Social Sciences, Harlow, Longman.

(2007) ‘Health Policy in the UK: Past, Present, Future’, Conference Proceedings, 50th International Anniversary Conference  of the Korean Academy of Social Welfare, Seoul, S Korea.

(2006), ‘The Future of Health Care in South Korea and the UK’, Social Policy & Society, 5:3, 375-385 (with Yoonsoon Chung).

(2004) (Book Review) ' Health Inequalities: Lifecourse Approaches', Journal of Social Policy Vol 33 (3).

(2004), Welfare and the State, Routledge, London (a 5-volume edited collection with Nicholas Deakin and Catherine Jones Finer).

(2003) The Virtual Focus Group Conference paper prsented to the 4th International Conference on Advances in Qualitative Methods, Banff, Canada.

(2002) Research Methods Distance/Supported Learning Handbook, Community Justice, University of Birmingham, with Emma Weyell.

(2002), Writing and Referencing Handbook, Community Justice, University of Birmingham.

(2001), 'Current Themes and Issues in Britain's National Health Service' in Jones Finer, C, Comparing the Social Policy Experience of Britain and Taiwan, Ashgate, Aldershot.

(2001), The Human Face of Information Technology: a practical guide, Human City Institute Futures Paper C6, Human City Institute, Birmingham.

(2001)(Book Review) 'Evaluating Probation Work with Offenders', Vista Perspectives on Probation, Vol; 6, No. 3, Autumn

Expertise

Social and welfare policy; health policy and health inequalities; comparative social and public policy (e.g. USA v UK); social research methods and analysis

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office

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