I was a researcher at Barod CIC from 2014 to 2021.

My main research focus was methodology and research relationships. I also worked on evaluations and action research projects.

During my research career I worked with with Professor Jan Walmsley, Professor Melanie Nind, Assistant Professor Andrew Power, and Dr Anne Collis.

My main research interests were about methodology - how we do research.

• How to coproduce research.
• What research relationships should look like.

I also did a number of research projects

• How can an inclusive research timebank work. This was done with Andy Powers from Southampton University.
• What makes a Good Self Advocacy Project – a toolkit. This was funded by DRILL and the Community Fund of the National Lottery. There was a video and a toolkit for evaluating self-advocacy projects.
• The Bridge Project. This project explored the entrepreneurship of self-advocates and their organisations. It was led by Barod CIC and funded by DRILL and the Community Fund.
• Making Sense of Self-advocacy today. This Project was led by Jan Walmsley and funded by the Rix-Thompson-Rothenberg Foundation. This looked at the impact of self-advocacy organisations on people's lives.

Publications

Melanie Nind, Alan Armstrong, Mal Cansdale, Anne Collis, Clare Hooper, Sarah Parsons & Andrew Power (2017) TimeBanking: towards a co-produced solution for power and money issues in inclusive research, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 20:4, 387-400, DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2016.1179469

Armstrong, M. Cansdale, A. R. Collis, B. E. Collis, S. Rice & J. Walmsley (2019) What makes a good self-advocacy project? The added value of co-production, Disability & Society, 34:7-8, 1289-1311, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2019.1613960

Alan Armstrong & Jan Walmsley (2019) Making Sense of Self-advocacy today. Jan Walmsey Associates

Armstrong, A., Collis, A., Walmsley, J. (2021). The Messy Realities of Inclusive Research. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Social Inclusion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48277-0_15-1

Conference presentations

Armstrong, Alan & Collis, Anne (2014) Lessons for (new) inclusive researchers and discussion. In: NCRM Research Methods Festival 2014, 8th - 10th July 2014, St. Catherine's College, Oxford.

Armstrong, Alan & Collis, Anne (2014) Yes, I have a learning difficulty. No, I don't do inclusive research. Presentation first given at the Lancaster Disability Studies Conference, 2018

Alan Armstrong, Lucy Hinksman and Bryan Collis (2019): Do people with learning disabilities belong in the business world? At Belonging and Not Belonging, Social History of Learning Disability Conference, 16th and 17th July 2019 Open University, Milton Keynes.

To discuss Alan's research, please contact bryan@barod.org