Dr Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan
Associate Professor of Criminology
Dr Chan's research focuses on sexual homicide, sexual offending, stalking behaviour, juvenile delinquency, psycho-criminology, and Asian criminology.
The Cluster for Contemporary Behavioural Studies
The Cluster for Contemporary Behavioural Studies (CCBS) combines multidisciplinary expertise in causal research designs with the best available quantitative methods for investigating and modelling cognitive and social mechanisms that influence individual thought and action.
We aim to understand and predict the complex causes, contexts, and broader societal impact of human behaviours, and where appropriate, how these can be improved. To do this we examine the effects of a wide range of factors, including mass media, demographics, social networks, education, psychological dispositions, and public policies.
Furthermore, we work with stakeholders in education, criminal justice, and mental health to steer our research questions and to render discoveries in social and behavioural science into advice, policy, and practice that is relevant and implementable.
Our research
Our research centres on the development and empirical testing of mechanism-based models of human behaviour. Correspondingly, we strive to inform policy, advance social-behavioural science theories, and develop and teach innovative empirical methods.
We, therefore, welcome all research and/or teaching-related collaborations that seek to employ an analytical approach to understanding human societies and behaviours.
Below is a brief selection of some of our latest research outputs -organised broadly by discipline or area.
Methodology
Clay-Warner, J., Kawashima, T., & Edgemon, T. G. (2022). Measure of personal network size using the known population method: A methodological guide. American Journal of Public Health, 112(5), 747-753.
Breznau, N., Rinke, E. M., Wuttke, A., Nguyen, H. H., …. Ramos, M. R., ... & Van Assche, J. (2022). Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2203150119.
Vörös, A., Boda, Z., Elmer, T., Hoffman, M., Mepham, K., Raabe, I. J., & Stadtfeld, C. (2021). The Swiss StudentLife Study: Investigating the emergence of an undergraduate community through dynamic, multidimensional social network data. Social Networks, 65, 71-84.
Lemos, C. M., Gore, R. J., Lessard-Phillips, L., & Shults, F. L. (2020). A network agent-based model of ethnocentrism and intergroup cooperation. Quality & Quantity, 54, 463-489.
Suh, E. (2019). Gender difference in British young adults’ retirement saving decision-making process: A Multi-Group Analysis Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Available at SSRN 3552070.
Sociology
Leyva, R. (2020). Brains, media and politics: generating neoliberal subjects. Routledge.
Vörös, A., Block, P., & Boda, Z. (2019). Limits to inferring status from friendship relations. Social Networks, 59, 77-97.
Lessard-Phillips, L. (2017). Exploring the dimensionality of ethnic minority adaptation in Britain: An analysis across ethnic and generational lines. Sociology, 51(3), 626-645.
Social Psychology
Chan, H. C. (2023). Youth sexual offending in Hong Kong: examining the role of self-control, risky sexual behaviors, and paraphilic interests. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1143271.
Leyva, R. (2023). Right-Wing Media’s Neurocognitive and Societal Effects. Taylor & Francis.
Ramos, M. R., Barreto, M., Ellemers, N., …., & Calanchini, J. (2016). Exposure to sexism can decrease implicit gender stereotype bias. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(4), 455-466.
Public Policy
Chan, H. C., & Myers, W. C. (2023). Risky sexual behavior, paraphilic interest, and sexual offending: the study of a community sample of young adults in Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4279.
Martin, B. T., Spencer Suarez, K., Giuffre, A., Edgemon, T. G., & Horowitz, V. (2023). Factoring in Family: Considerations of Parenthood in the Assessment, Enforcement, and Collection of Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs). The British Journal of Criminology, azad001.
Suh, E., & Holmes, L. (2022). A critical review of cost‐effectiveness research in children's social care: What have we learnt so far?. Social Policy & Administration, 56(5), 742-756.
Criminology
Svingen, E. (2023). Evolutionary criminology and cooperation: retribution, reciprocity, and crime. Palgrave Macmillan.
Chan, H. C. (2023). Nonstranger and stranger sexual homicides in Mainland China: comparing the modus operandi of male sexual murderers. Sexual Abuse, 10790632231190079.
Edgemon, T. G., & Clay-Warner, J. (2023). Conditions of Confinement and Incarcerated Women’s Mental Health. Feminist Criminology, 15570851231178935.
Contact Us
Our research centres on the development and testing of causal mechanism-based models of human behaviour. Correspondingly, we strive to inform policy, advance social-behavioural science theories, and develop and teach innovative empirical methods.
We, therefore, welcome all research and/or teaching-related collaborations that seek to employ an analytical approach to understanding human societies and behaviours. So, if you’re interested in working with us, please feel free to contact any individual member whose name and email can be found under the People section or direct your queries to the cluster lead Dr. Rodolfo Leyva at (r.leyva@bham.ac.uk).
Teaching
Teaching
CCBS staff lead and teach all the research methods modules for the Department of Social Policy, Sociology, and Criminology undergraduate programmes, as well as the majority of the postgraduate research methods modules for School of Social Policy and College of Social Sciences. Moreover, we are currently developing a series of doctoral training workshops and online short courses on social network analysis, experiment design, and advanced statistical modelling.
Academic Consultancy
Academic Consultancy
As a collective, CCBS staff have expertise in a wide range of quantitative research methods. These include sampling methods (e.g., cell weighting, poststratification); data-collection methods (e.g., experiments, surveys), data-merging methods (e.g., record linkage, imputation); and data-analysis methods (e.g., agent-based modelling, structural equation modelling, multilevel modelling). Additionally, we also have expertise in systematic approaches to qualitative research methods such semi-structure interviews, focus groups, and thematic analysis. Said methodological skillset coupled with our interdisciplinary background enables us to advice on and/or evaluate just about any type of social or behavioural research that's interested in determining effects and causal mechanisms. More specifically, we can consult on any aspect of a research project’s design, run primary research, and/or conduct data analyses or impact evaluations.
This consultancy service is open to any public, third-sector, or private organisation, and is supported by our university’s commercial branch Birmingham Enterprise Ltd. If you’re interested in this service, please direct your queries to the cluster lead Dr. Rodolfo Leyva at (r.leyva@bham.ac.uk).
members
Dr Timothy Edgemon
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Dr. Timothy G. Edgemon is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Birmingham.
Dr Laurence Lessard-Phillips
Senior Research Fellow, IRiS
Staff profile for Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS), School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham.
Dr Rodolfo Leyva
Lecturer Quantitative Methods
Rodolfo is a behavioural-social scientist, with specialisms in cognitive sociology, political-economy, and media psychology.
Dr Miguel Ribeiro Ramos
Senior Lecturer
Dr Miguel Ribeiro Ramos is a Senior Lecturer is the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham
Dr Evelyn Svingen
Assistant Professor in Criminology
Dr Evelyn Svingen is an Assistant Professor in Criminology with an interest in the biosocial mechanisms of etiology of crime.
Dr Mary Zhang
Associate Professor
Mary joined the University of Birmingham as a 125th Anniversary Fellow and Associate Professor of International Social Policy in 2024