Research Associate Vacancy at Cardiff Law School

Cardiff Law School and the School of Religious and Theological Studies have posted a call for applications to fill a Research Associate vacancy. The full description follows below. 

As a Distinguished Academic Associate at the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff Law School, I can say that Cardiff is a wonderful community of scholars and thinkers that would make a wonderful home for a research associateship.

We seek a Research Associate to work on an empirical study funded by the AHRC as part of the AHRC/ESRC ‘Religion and Society’ Programme. The project, ‘Social Cohesion and Civil Law: Marriage, Divorce and Religious Courts’, will explore how religious law functions alongside civil law in the area of marriage and divorce. It examines the workings of three religious courts in detail: a Jewish Beth Din; a matrimonial tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church; and a Muslim shariah council. The project asks ‘What is the legal status of these courts’, ‘How do they operate in relation to marriage, divorce and remarriage?’ and ‘To what extent is this compatible with civil law in the UK?’

The empirical investigation will be in two stages. The first stage will consist of the collection of a sample of cases dealt with by the three chosen courts in the area of marriage, divorce and re-marriage and other relevant documentation produced by these courts. You will collect data from the case files and will be responsible for scanning and analysing the files using NVivo. The second stage will consist of a series of semi-structured, qualitative interviews with court personnel (at least five personnel from each of the three case studies). You will arrange and participate in all the interviews, and be responsible for the processing, security, analysis and archiving of the interview findings.

You will also be responsible for organising administrative arrangements connected with the project, including arranging meetings and interviews, liaising with court/tribunal staff, correspondence, taking minutes and coordinating team and project meetings. These will include regular team meetings and a project meeting at the end of the year, attended by all researchers and representatives of the three courts to present initial findings, to explore arising questions and to encourage the sharing of experiences. There will also be a Symposium in Cardiff in March 2011 to disseminate the project findings.

You should have a first degree, or equivalent, in a relevant discipline (social science, law, or religious studies) and either a PhD or equivalent research experience. You will have a good knowledge and understanding of qualitative research methods, and proven skills of qualitative data gathering, management and analysis. An ability to speak and read or write Arabic, Urdu or Hebrew would be an advantage.

This is a part-time post of 28 hours per week, for 10 months, starting on 1 June 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Salary (pro rata for hours worked): £29853 - £35646 per annum. It is not anticipated that an appointment will be made above £29853.

For an informal discussion about the project and the post, please contact Professor Gillian Douglas at 029 2087 4177 or email DouglasG@cardiff.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications: 11 March 2010