Robert is a qualitative sociological researcher within the C. Wright Mills tradition which holds that biographical experiences are inexplicably linked to broader social and political forces. Robert traverses the qualitative sociological and psychological divide and is interested in the subjective experiences of individuals in relation to ‘personal troubles’ they experience in day-to-day life and how these cross the sociological/psychological binary. Subject-wise, Robert’s core subject interests include: gender-based violence (all forms); the social construction of gender, particularly men and masculinities; identities; stigma and shame. He approaches these subjects through qualitative approaches. Robert’s methodological interests and expertise include ethnography (including participant observation), interviews and discourse analysis. Robert is keen to hear from applicants wishing to explore and experiment with the diversity of what qualitative sociology and psychology has to offer beyond the standard single interview-‘thematic analysis’ approach. Robert also specialises in Group Concept Mapping methodology, a participant-driven methodology that converts the ideas and opinions of people to data which is represented in various easily understandable visual outputs and which is suitable for participatory and community-based research. Theoretically, Robert is interested in the symbolic and radical interactionist tradition, focusing on how social structures are built from and maintained through interpersonal interaction. Other theoretical interests include; identity theories; psychosocial perspectives; shame theory; feminist theory Robert’s publications are available through ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bolton-3

Department Responsibilities

- MRes and PhD supervision

Qualifications

• Certificate in Counselling Skills - Munster Technological University 2022
• PhD Applied Social Studies - University College Cork 2018
• Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) - University College Cork 2014