Research / Consultancy

David Drabble

David joined the Tavistock Institute in September 2008 and is a researcher. His main duties are in supporting the Institute’s research projects within the People and Organizations research strand, through data collection, analysis and reviewing literature.

David has extensive research and academic training having completed a BA in Social and Political Studies and an MA in Sociological Research, both at the University of Sheffield. Building on this training, David then worked as a social scientist consultant for the Scottish Government on the issue of responsibilities for flooding in Scotland and a two week fieldwork project on the social effects of flooding in Shettleston, Glasgow.

He has a keen interest in several areas of research. In particular, these are:

• Food and farming in the context of the growth of the Supermarket
• Social capital production within private business organizations
• The social networks of recent immigrants
• Legislating national-level partnerships

A sociologist by training, David has a commitment to using sociological theories to understand practices; Bauman’s theory of distantiation, Bourdieu’s notion of reflexivity and critical theorist perspectives are of particular interest to him.

David has been involved in various individual and group research projects including evaluating the new Citizenship GCSE, using ethnography to understand Sheffield’s homeless ‘community’, and how ethical retailers can promote social capital. He is currently working on two projects within the Tavistock: an evaluation of the motivation of older staff in the European Commission and an evaluation of the Vision, Integration and Performance (VIP) Programme in the European Commission.