The VSR Best Paper Prize
Boundary crossing and elite attributes in European civil societies, by Malin Arvidson, Jayeon Lee, Roberto Scaramuzzino, and Anders Uhlin
The panel thought that this was an engaging, well-written, accessible article with clear policy and practice implications about leaders, elite attributes, and boundary crossing in civil society. It was methodologically ambitious, involving surveys of civil society leaders in four different European countries and at the EU-level. Whilst the comparative element was a strength of the paper, it was also an area that the panel would have liked to see further analysis – an opportunity for further work perhaps! Overall, an enjoyable read that has advanced our understanding of elites in civil society leaderships across Europe.
The Duncan Scott Memorial Prize for New Researchers
Developing Poetic Methodological Inquiry: A Practice-Informed Approach to Voluntary-Sector Research, by Kate Burns
The judging panel felt that Kate’s paper set out an innovative approach – namely, Poetic Methodological Inquiry – to exploring the motivations of paid employees working within the Health and Social Care Voluntary and Community Sector (H&SC VCS) in England. The paper was well written and well structured – interspersed with powerful poetry – and made a strong case for the examination of the poetic methodological inquiry approach that Kate will be testing. Kate’s paper had strong relevance to the voluntary sector and was a good example of a practice-informed methodology. We look forward to hearing about how Kate’s research unfolds, both in terms of her central research question but also what she finds out about the development and application of the methodology.
The Campbell Anderson Best Paper Prize
Using and adapting participatory theme elicitation (PTE) to facilitate meaningful and inclusive involvement of community researchers in data analysis, by Olivia Engle (Leeds Beckett University) and Eimer Brown (Wakefield Metropolitan District Council).
The judging panel felt that the winning paper was excellently written and well structured, addressing a subject of clear relevance to voluntary sector studies and the wider social sciences and social policy fields. We considered it to be clear and engaging, thoughtful and reflective, with a robust and clearly presented methodology and a well-articulated consideration of the implications for voluntary sector research. While it was seen as being more focused on researchers than practitioners, the focus on participatory and co-productive research resonates strongly with the theme of this year’s conference.
