Charlie Davison

Lifecourse and lifestyle: The social and cultural location of health behaviours☆

Drawing on two qualitative studies carried out independently in the U.K. this paper examines the cultural construction of physical and social ageing, and the part this plays in commonsense assessments of daily health relevant behaviour. The concepts of lifecourse and lifestyle are examined as they are presented in both social scientific and lay discourse. The collaborative inductive analysis was based on the observation from both studies that respondents regularly accounted for health and illness, and their associated behaviours, in terms of individuals perceived social circumstances and obligations. Position in the lifecourse was regularly used to express and encapsulate these constellations of socio-cultural processes and variables. The analysis focuses on there stage of the lifecourse as identified by respondents; and examines how these were related in lay discourse to particular health-relevant behaviours or lifestyles. It is concluded that it is important for health promotion to work with rather than against cultural norms and every day principles of social organisation in order better to understand lay perceptions of what constitutes acceptable health-relevant behaviour.

Is Superdiversity a Useful Concept in European Medical Sociology

Medical sociology has a poor track record of researching diversity in theoretically innovative ways. This paper notes usage of the term superdiversity in migration and urban studies, to ask about its utility in general and more specifically for researching the social production of health and illness. Referring to a multi-country interview study about healthcare seeking strategies, the need to understand the diversification of diversity and the challenges for multi-method health research are described. Six interviews each were conducted in Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK, to give a diversity sample of 24 adults who described their strategies and practice when seeking healthcare. In discussing how far superdiversity can help to model socio-economic and cultural changes already identified as challenging health policy and service provision, the paper draws on case study material. The complex intersecting dimensions of population diversity to which superdiversity draws attention are undoubtedly relevant for commissioning and improving healthcare and research as well as policy. Whether models that reflect the complexity indicated by qualitative research can be envisaged in a timely fashion for quantitative research and questions of policy, commissioning and research re key questions for the superdiversity’s ongoing usefulness as a concept.

Social research into cream – a “tool kit” approach

Describes a “tool kit” approach to applied social research into food and nutritional issues. Briefly describes the main differences between qualitative and quantitative research styles in terms of outlook and methods. Using the example of research into cream and its consumption in the context of health promotion, argues that different research methods and styles are appropriate to different issues and the type of findings required. Illustrates a distinction between findings about structure and findings about process. Concludes that an open‐minded approach and a pragmatic view of research methods as a potential range of options (a “tool kit”) are desirable in applied research settings.