Dr
Adam
Carter
(he/him)
BSc, MA, PGCE, PhD
School of Education
University Teacher
Co-Editor, Families, Relationships and Societies (Bristol University Press)
Full contact details
School of Education
The Wave
- Profile
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Adam Carter is a University Teacher in the School of Education here at the University of Sheffield, teaching across the social research methods programmes. He convenes the MA modules Advanced Qualitative Methods and Independent Research Project, and teaches on the undergraduate modules Foundations of Social Science, Doing Qualitative Research, and Research Dissemination.
Previously, Adam was Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Sheffield, researching humour as an affective practice in everyday family life. He used participant-produced video and video elicitation to explore the potentials and limitations of humour in facing challenging times. He has also been Research Associate on two ESRC-funded projects; one on the effects of Brexit on everyday family relationships, and one on the food practices of low-income mothers in Sheffield. He completed his PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London (2019), again using video methods, here investigating the audience-performer relationship in live stand-up comedy, and how this is affected by social inequalities. In an earlier career in further education, he was an Advanced Practitioner in Teaching and Learning. He is co-editor of the journal Families, Relationships and Societies.
- Qualifications
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PhD Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London (2019)
MA Social Research Methods, Goldsmiths, University of London (2013)
PGCE (Learning and Skills Sector), University of Essex (2009)
BSc Sociology, University of Bristol (2005)
- Research interests
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Adam’s research examines how people manage tension, intimacy and inequality in everyday life, with a particular focus on humour and ambivalence. He specialises in qualitative and visual methods, especially video observation, participant-produced video and video elicitation, which he uses to attend to the ongoing construction of social relations. He has previously explored this terrain in two spaces - everyday family life, and live stand-up comedy. Drawing on sociological family studies and theories of affect, value and everyday life, he explores how laughter provides a way for people to live with contradictions and ambivalences that remain stubbornly irresolvable. He has also published on class, ridicule and value in live comedy, and has forthcoming work on gender, class and intergenerational ambivalence in television comedy (Alma's Not Normal). His work has appeared in The Sociological Review, Current Sociology and the European Journal of Cultural Studies.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- ‘Because it’s quicker in the microwave, isn’t it?’ Using ethnographic episodes to go beyond words in food research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 25. View this article in WRRO
- Living with Brexit: families, relationships and the temporalities of everyday personal life in ‘Brexit Britain’. The Sociological Review, 73(1), 156-174. View this article in WRRO
- Laughing through Brexit: family humour practices, political troubles and everyday life. Current Sociology, 73(7), 1111-1128. View this article in WRRO
- Research relationalities and shifting sensitivities : doing ethnographic research about Brexit and everyday family relationships. Families, Relationships and Societies, 10(1), 169-177. View this article in WRRO
- Essex girls’ in the comedy club: Stand-up, ridicule and ‘value struggles’. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(5-6), 763-780. View this article in WRRO
Book chapters
- Composite narratives, developing characters: a method of creative
data analysis in developing public engagement artefacts In Kara H, Mannay D & Roy A (Ed.), The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis (pp. 235-247). Policy Press View this article in WRRO
Digital content
- ‘Because it’s quicker in the microwave, isn’t it?’ Using ethnographic episodes to go beyond words in food research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 25. View this article in WRRO
- Grants
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Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (2021-2024)
NIHR SSCR Bridging Funding (2025)
- Teaching interests
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Adam teaches social research methods and sociology at undergraduate and postgraduate level. His teaching is built on an active learning ethos, eschewing passive content delivery where possible in favour of doing, collaboration and problem-solving, within learning environments that are inclusive, enjoyable and non-judgemental. He currently convenes the MA modules Advanced Qualitative Methods, and Independent Research Project, and teaches on Foundations of Social Science, Doing Qualitative Research and Research Dissemination. He also supervises undergraduate and master’s dissertations, particularly qualitative and visual projects, and is an experienced academic tutor.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Co-Editor of Families, Relationships and Societies
British Sociological Association member
International Society for Humor Studies member