The Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC)

The Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC) was established in 1989 with the purpose of explaining and modelling the process of social change at the individual and household level through the development and application of advanced quantitative methods. Since then, the Centre has pursued this objective by developing a world-class, multidisciplinary research agenda and providing timely analysis of a number of societal challenges including those originating from unexpected events such as the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Our 2019-2024 programme set out to investigate how individuals and families respond to long-term economic and demographic changes and their implications on living standards, the demand for workers’ skills, changing gender roles, and growing inequalities in education, health and well-being. We also proposed significant methodological advances, exploring the benefits that machine learning, the elicitation of subjective expectations, and use of biomarkers data can bring to social science research. Under transition funding, our 2024-2027 programme will continue to pursue these objectives. Specifically, we will focus on the challenges posed by a low-growth economy characterised by a significant decrease in living standards, as well as a rapid transition to automation in many sectors. We will continue to analyse the consequences of population ageing and increasing diversity due to migration, focusing also on inequalities by gender and socio-economic status. In pursuing this programme, we will build on our excellent record of research and impact in the areas of (i) education and the formation of skills; (ii) families, health and wellbeing; (iii) new technologies and labour market change; and (iv) the integration of migrants. We remain committed to developing and applying the most appropriate statistical methods to the analysis of social change, providing evidence that can be used to evaluate existing and new policies. The Centre is well-placed to maximise the impact of social science research across different communities of users, including policymakers in government departments and stakeholders in non-governmental organizations and the third sector. Specifically, we will continue to provide channels of communication and bidirectional influence between academia and users through our Policy Advisory Groups, our new programme of Policy Fellowships, and communication and engagement activities through established and new partnerships. Beneficiaries include academics, government departments, third-sector organizations, interest groups, and members of the public. The impact of our programme will make a major contribution to the UKRI themes: “Creating Opportunities and Improving Outcomes” and “Securing Better Health, Ageing and Well-Being”, as well as the ESRC priorities “Understanding Behaviour” and “Digital Society”. Another aim of the Centre is to support capacity building in the social sciences by continuing to offer training to existing PhD students, as well as mentoring and career development to a new generation of early and mid-career researchers. We will continue to expand the geographic reach of our activities, leveraging our large international networks and collaborations with world-leading academics across many countries. Our team is multi-disciplinary and quantitatively oriented. We draw on the expertise of a large group of researchers based at the University of Essex, representing four different departments: the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), Economics, Sociology, and Computer Science. MiSoC will continue to be hosted by ISER, which was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize (2016-2018) for its “authoritative social and economic research to inform the policies of governments for the improvement of people’s lives”.