Dr Fiona Shirani
Research Associate, FLEXIS
- fionashirani@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44(0) 29 225 10129
- Room 8.04, Tower Building
I am a SOCSI Research Associate who specialises in qualitative longitudinal methods. Since 2011 I have been working on projects concerning energy and sustainability, linked to the Understanding Risk Research group based in the School of Psychology. My research foregrounds issues concerning families and relationships.
Biography
PhD awarded January 2011, Cardiff University.
2019
- Shirani, F.et al. 2019. What counts as success? Wider implications of achieving planning permission in a low-impact ecovillage. Environmental Values (10.3197/096327119X15579936382536)
- Groves, C.et al. 2019. Better energy futures: Developing a framework for addressing fuel poverty poverty. Project Report. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
2018
- Shirani, F.et al. 2018. UK smart living demonstrator (better energy futures) – research report. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
2017
- Henwood, K., Shirani, F. and Groves, C. 2017. Using photographs in interviews: When we lack the words to say what practice means. In: Flick, U. ed. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection. SAGE Publications, pp. 599-614.
- Shirani, F.et al. 2017. Critical moments? Life transitions and energy biographies. Geoforum 86, pp. 86-92. (10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.09.006)
- Groves, C.et al. 2017. Why mundane energy use matters: Energy biographies, attachment and identity. Energy Research and Social Science 30, pp. 71-81. (10.1016/j.erss.2017.06.016)
2016
- Henwood, K., Groves, C. and Shirani, F. 2016. Relationality, entangled practices, and psychosocial exploration of intergenerational dynamics in sustainable energy studies. Families, Relationships and Societies 5(3), pp. 393-410. (10.1332/204674316X147584383416945)
- Shirani, F.et al. 2016. Living in the future: environmental concerns, parenting, and low-impact lifestyles. In: Ansell, N., Klocker, N. and Skelton, T. eds. Geographies of Global Issues: Change and Threat., Vol. 8. Geographies of Children and Young People Singapore: Springer, pp. 1-20., (10.1007/978-981-4585-95-8_4-1)
- Shirani, F.et al. 2016. Asking about the future: methodological insights from energy biographies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 19(4), pp. 429-444. (10.1080/13645579.2015.1029208)
- Groves, C.et al. 2016. Invested in unsustainability? On the psychosocial patterning of engagement in practices. Environmental Values 25(3), pp. 309-328. (10.3197/096327116X14598445991466)
- Groves, C.et al. 2016. Energy biographies: Narrative genres, lifecourse transitions and practice change. Science, Technology, and Human Values 41(3), pp. 483-508. (10.1177/0162243915609116)
- Groves, C.et al. 2016. The grit in the oyster: using energy biographies to question socio-technical imaginaries of 'smartness'. Journal of Responsible Innovation 3(1), pp. 4-25. (10.1080/23299460.2016.1178897)
- Henwood, K.et al. 2016. Energy Biographies Research Report. Project Report. Cardiff: .Energy Biographies.
2015
- Parkhill, K.et al. 2015. "We are a community but that takes a certain amount of energy": Exploring shared visions, social action and resilience in place-based community-led initiatives. Environmental Science & Policy 53(A), pp. 60-69. (10.1016/j.envsci.2015.05.014)
- Shirani, F.et al. 2015. I’m not a tree hugger, I’m just like you’: changing perceptions of sustainable lifestyles. Environmental Politics 24(1), pp. 57-74. (10.1080/09644016.2014.959247)
- Shirani, F. 2015. "I'm bringing back a dead art": continuity and change in the lives of young fathers. Families, Relationships and Societies 4(2), pp. 253-266. (10.1332/204674315X14230598040336)
2014
- Butler, C.et al. 2014. Examining the dynamics of energy demand through a biographical lens. Nature and Culture 9(2), pp. 164-182. (10.3167/nc.2014.090204)
2013
- Shirani, F. J. 2013. The spectre of the wheezy dad: Masculinity, fatherhood and ageing. Sociology 47(5), pp. 1104-1119. (10.1177/0038038512469063)
- Shirani, F. J.et al. 2013. Disconnected futures: exploring notions of ethical responsibility in energy practices. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 18(4), pp. 455-468. (10.1080/13549839.2013.779236)
2012
- Shirani, F. J., Henwood, K. L. and Coltart, C. 2012. Meeting the challenges of intensive parenting culture: gender, risk management and the moral parent. Sociology 46(1), pp. 25-40. (10.1177/0038038511416169)
- Shirani, F. 2012. The centrality of social capital: concepts of community in the era of the Big Society. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Shirani, F. J., Henwood, K. L. and Coltart, C. 2012. "Why aren't you at work?": negotiating economic models of fathering identity. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers 10(3), pp. 274-290. (10.3149/fth.1003.274)
2011
- Henwood, K. L., Shirani, F. J. and Finn, M. 2011. “So you think we've moved, changed, the representation got more what?” Methodological and analytical reflections on visual (photo-elicitation) methods used in the Men as Fathers study. In: Reavey, P. ed. Visual methods in psychology: using and interpreting images in qualitative research. Hove: Psychology Press, pp. 330-345.
- Shirani, F. J. and Henwood, K. L. 2011. Taking one day at a time: temporal experiences in the context of unexpected life course transitions. Time & Society 20(1), pp. 49-68. (10.1177/0961463X10374906)
- Henwood, K. L., Shirani, F. J. and Procter, J. K. N. 2011. On delayed fatherhood: the social and subjective “logics” at work in men’s lives (a UK study). In: Beets, G., Schippers, J. J. and te Velde, E. R. eds. The future of motherhood in western societies: late fertility and its consequences. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 159-176., (10.1007/978-90-481-8969-4_11)
- Shirani, F. J. and Henwood, K. L. 2011. Continuity and change in a qualitative longitudinal study of fatherhood: relevance without responsibility. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 14(1), pp. 17-29. (10.1080/13645571003690876)
- Shirani, F. J. 2011. The right time for fatherhood? a temporal study of men's transition to parenthood. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2010
- Shirani, F. J. 2010. Retrospective reflections on the timing of fatherhood. Presented at: ESRC Fertility Pathways Network Meeting, London, UK, 8 - 9 March 2010.
- Shirani, F. J. 2010. Researcher continuity and change in a qualitative longitudinal study: The impact of personal characteristics.. Presented at: Timescapes Conference: The Craft of QLL Research, Cardiff, Wales, 20 January 2010.
- Shirani, F. J. 2010. Researcher change and continuity in a qualitative longitudinal study: the impact of personal characteristics. In: Shirani, F. J. and Weller, S. eds. Conducting Qualitative Longitudinal Research: Fieldwork Experiences. Timescapes Working Paper Series Vol. 2. Leeds: University of Leeds, pp. 49-59.
- Shirani, F. J. and Weller, S. 2010. Introduction: researchers' experiences. In: Shirani, F. J. and Weller, S. eds. Conducting Qualitative Longitudinal Research: Fieldwork Experiences. Timescapes Working Paper Series Vol. 2. Leeds: University of Leeds, pp. 4-6.
- Henwood, K. L., Shirani, F. J. and Coltart, C. 2010. Fathers and financial risk-taking during the economic downturn: insights from a QLL study of men's identities-in-the-making. 21st Century Society: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences 5(2), pp. 137-147. (10.1080/17450141003783355)
2009
- Shirani, F. J. 2009. To and from involved fatherhood: A QLL study. Presented at: European Sociological Association 9th Annual Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 2 - 5 September 2009.
- Shirani, F., Henwood, K. L. and Coltart, C. 2009. Men’s experiences of antenatal services: findings from the ‘Men as Fathers’ Study. Project Report. [Online]. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/research/researchprojects/menasfathers/publications/antenatalreport.pdf
- Shirani, F. J., Yang, P. and Mannay, D. 2009. Adhering to the conventional sequence: men’s accounts of first-time fatherhood. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/resources/wp126.pdf
- Shirani, F., Yang, P. and Mannay, D. 2009. Postgraduate café papers 2009. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
2008
- Khan, A.et al. 2008. "The prawn sandwich will live forever”: learning to innovate in commercial sandwich production. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Available at: http://learningaswork.cf.ac.uk/outputs/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20ESRC%20TLRP%20Learning%20as%20Work%20Research%20Paper%20No%2017.pdf
- Henwood, K. L., Finn, M. and Shirani, F. J. 2008. Use of visual methods to explore paternal identities in historical time and social change: reflections from the ‘men-as-fathers’ project. Qualitative Researcher 9, pp. 2-5.
- Elliott, E., Shirani, F. and Williams, G. H. 2008. Final report on the sustainability and legacy of Healthy Living Centres in Wales. A report to the Department for Public Health and Health Professions. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/resources/wp-115.pdf
I am currently working on the interdisciplinary Flexible Integrated Energy Systems (FLEXIS) project (http://flexis.wales), which involves several universities across Wales. The social science element of FLEXIS considers the social impact of new energy technologies. I lead the fieldwork on the work stream ‘Energy System Change and Everyday Life’, which involves ongoing qualitative longitudinal interviews and related activities with participants in an ex-mining community. I have also been working on the Better Energy Futures project, which focuses on lived experiences of energy vulnerability, and has involved a collaboration with the Energy Systems Catapult. This work has recently been reported in the Welsh Government Smart Living Initiative Annual Review (https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-07/smart-living-initiative-annual-report-july-2019.pdf)
Previous projects
Energy Biographies (2011-2015) - http://energybiographies.org/
Connected Communities Review (2011)
Timescapes (2007-2011) - http://www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk/
Learning as Work (2007)