Using Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests as Research Data

The workshop (consisting of a presentation, followed by a Q&A discussion) will cover:

• The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 and how it can support social science research;
• Information that can be requested through FOI;
• The process of making an FOI request;
• Dealing with (including challenging) FOI rejections.

Outcomes

This workshop will:

• Enhance participants’ understanding of different types and sources of data;
• Enable participants to identify sources of public records and processes to request these;
• Develop participants’ understanding of how to handle this data source.

Contributors

Dr Deirdre Conlon is Associate Professor in Critical Human Geography at the University of Leeds, and is Deputy Director of the Security, Conflict and Justice (SCJ) Pathway for the WRDTP.

Dr Stuart Hodkinson is Associate Professor in Critical Urban Geography at University of Leeds. His research includes more than a decade of work exploring residents’ experiences of public housing/estate regeneration in England under the Private Finance Initiative, and includes extensive use of FOI records. He is author of Safe as houses: Private greed, political negligence and housing policy after Grenfell (2019, Manchester University Press).