Dear BERG peeps,

Although Wednesday is technically a strike day, since BERG is not a part of teaching, the salary, or the pension, I am happy to tell you that we WILL be holding the BERG seminar this Wednesday.

This week we have PhD candidate, Jade Hooper, giving a talk on her interesting work, entitled:

Exploring Social and Locality Variations of Dog Bites in Scotland Using Administrative Data Sources

Rates  of  hospital  admissions  due  to  dog  bite  incidents have  risen  considerably  over  the  last  10 years (HSCIC, 2015). Of particular concern is the finding that hospital admissions for dog bites are highest in the most deprived areas across England and Wales (HSCIC  2014;  2015).  However,  there  is  a  paucity  of  research which  aims  to  explore  why  this  may  be  or  how  this  issue  may  be  addressed. Whilst  there  is  a public  interest  in  these  figures  in  Scotland,  thus  far  there  has  been  no  rigorous  empirical investigation into social inequalities in dog related injuries. Through an innovative and ambitious analysis of linked by-product data, the current study hopes to address this gap. The  study  will  use  a  range  of  data  sources  to  examine  both  individual  and  area-based characteristics  which may  help uncover  some  of  the  reasons  why  these  patterns  may  exist,  and how  they  can  be  addressed.  Health  data  from  dog  bite  incidents  will  be  requested  and  linked with census records. Microchip  data  will  also  be  requested  in  a  bid  to account  for  dog  populations  which  in  the  past  have  not  be  considered  when  links  with  social disadvantage and dog bite injuries have been found. Through this analysis, the study aims to help inform policy for the reduction of dog bites and aid in effective identification and targeting of interventions for areas and individuals most at risk. This presentation will discuss some of the difficulties associated with the research area and specific challenges related to the project. The floor will then be opened to allow for more general discussion surrounding the subject area.   

We look forward to seeing you at 5:30pm sharp. Drinks and munchies provided.

All the best,

Paxton

______________________________

Paxton D. Culpepper, BSc, MSc

PhD Candidate | Psychology

Division of Psychology

Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK

Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building

Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852

Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641

Email: p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk