Research

View of the Quad at Old College

The Institute of Governance has major research interests, mainly but not exclusively in sociology and politics, notable around issues of nationalism, national identity and constitutional change, as well as territorial politics.

Our work on surveying public opinion in Scotland and England is continuing.  British Social Attitudes survey 2008, which is carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, carried a module of questions on national identity which will tell us much more about how people in England think of themselves.  The Scottish Social Attitudes survey will take place in 2009, which means that we will have almost a decade of annual surveys showing how Scots see themselves, and why they choose to describe themselves as they do.