Ross Barker

Ross Barker

PhD student

Department of Methodology

Connect with me

Languages
English, German
Key Expertise
Fertility; Norms; Text-based Natural Language Processing

About me

Ross is a PhD candidate in Demography supervised by Professor Wendy Sigle and Professor Kenneth Benoit.

Ross works on addressing questions pertaining to the forces influencing fertility, particularly related to the choice to have, or not have, children. These pressures often present challenges when it comes to measurement. Ross approaches these inquiries by utilising text-based sources and quantitative text analysis, all while adhering to the principles of critical and concerned demography. Historical text data from books and newspapers, as well as web-based data, serve as essential components of Ross's research methodology.

Methodologically, Ross's interests lie in computational social science, web scraping, and natural language processing. Additionally, he holds an interest in the philosophy of science and the role methodologies play in shaping the field of demography. His aim is to gain insights into how demographers and social scientists adapt their techniques to formulate theories, identify issues, and frame research questions.

Currently, Ross is a third-year PhD candidate in demography at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He holds a BA in Geography from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Demography from the University of Southampton. Prior to embarking on his PhD journey, Ross served as a Research Assistant at the Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he conducted research into topics such as the uncertainty regarding fertility intentions, the evolution of family-formation plans throughout one's lifespan, and the utilisation of mobile phone apps for fertility tracking. He continues to include these topics in his current work. 

My research