His academic background has led to Alex gaining a keen interest in a wide variety of social and political matters. Research topics include: investigations into democratic processes in local policymaking in the UK, rape culture and gender performativity in schools, policy discourse surrounding food bank usage and the effect of income and health deprivation upon rates of COVID-19 vaccination across North London.

For his postgraduate dissertation Alex evaluated the contribution a potential ‘Clean Air Zone’ would have on Sustainable Development Goals in the Liverpool City Region. The topic linked themes of environmental policy, public health, socio-economic inequalities and local business and economic growth. The dissertation involved semi-structured interviews, a qualitative survey and secondary data analysis to achieve the research objectives and provide a set of policy recommendations. The study involved a particular focus on the policy process. This included examining how the production and usage of knowledge impacts the potential policy’s effect on the health of vulnerable populations.

Skills Include:

• Analysing the existing literature on a chosen topic to produce in-depth literature reviews.
• Interpreting and analysing quantitative data using programmes such as SPSS, Excel and GIS.
• Undertaking qualitative research with experience in critical discourse analysis and semi-structured interviewing using programmes such as NVIVO to aid in thematic analyses of transcripts.
• Writing analytically in a wide range of genres such as think-tank reports, blogs, policy briefs and policy and research reports.