Tackling real world problems
Our research tackles contemporary problems that do not respect conventional disciplinary boundaries. Our collaborative approach involves departments across the University and institutions around the world.
Research integrity is at our core and our work is guided by ethical frameworks and processes. Our commitment to diverse methods to help sustain our vibrant research culture.
Research Projects Spotlight
Transforming the Humble Brick
The Violent Extremism Lab
Disobedient Buildings
Transboundary Resource Management
The Ethno-ornithology World Atlas
Histories of Oxford Anthropology Project
Postdoctoral Research In Focus
Dr Arran Davis: exploring the relationship between poverty, loneliness, and a defensive symptom cluster
Evolutionary anthropologist Dr Arran Davis is interested in how social relationships affect human behaviour, health, and well-being. Here he describes recent work using the European Social Survey (around 25,000 responses from 20 countries) to examine how a defensive symptom cluster, characterized by pain, fatigue, and low mood, varies according to individuals’ social connections and socioeconomic status.
He found that this symptom cluster was more prevalent in lonely individuals, with particularly strong associations for individuals who were both lonely and experiencing poverty. He also found that people living on low incomes were especially at risk for feeling lonely. These findings highlight the important connections between human sociality, economic inequality, and health and will form the basis for future research projects.
