London Nightline
To provide confidential listening, support and information to students in London throughout the night.
Idea for research
Idea for research
While London Nightline logs each contact in terms of its themes and content, very little analysis of this rich data has been conducted. This research project would focus on analysing the frequency and co-occurrence of themes (e.g. academic stress, abuse, mental health difficulties) London Nightline callers present with.
The research project would involve quantitative analysis of Nightline logbook entries with the aim to characterise:
- the frequency of presenting themes
- the theme co-occurrence network
- average number of themes per contact.
Impact of idea
The impact of the research project would be both internal and external. Internally, these important findings would be used to inform training to ensure the charity's volunteer base is well prepared to handle the themes they are most likely to encounter while on the lines. This would result in a more confident volunteer base, and optimally supported students who contact London Nightline. A rigorous analysis of Nightline callers could also be used to demonstrate the charity's value to its affiliated universities.
Nightline organisations are an important piece of the youth and student mental health research puzzle. Nightlines can serve as interim services for students who cannot or for various reasons don't want to access NHS or university counselling. Understanding what issues this group of students present with could reveal potential gaps in access to NHS or university counselling, which could then be translated to policy changes that would make access to listening support more available for university students.
We would welcome if a student wanted to further work with us to produce an executive summary of their research findings for affiliate institutions, training purposes and Nightline's board of trustees. It is our aim to publish the resulting research - the student working on the project would of course be credited, and would be invited to further collaborate with us on the research publishing process, if they wanted to.

If you have any existing data or information you would like included in a project, please tell us what kind of data these are

What new data or information would you like to be collected in this project?

Application process
Application criteria
We are looking for someone enthusiastic about student mental health, and someone who is able to cope with analysing potentially emotionally sensitive themes (e.g. abuse, suicidal ideation). It would be a plus if the student had experience working at Nightline or on a similar line, as well as if they had experience with quantitative analysis, but neither are a strict prerequisite.
DBS needed
No
Is this project fully accessible to students with the disabilities?
Yes
Disabilities information
The project is to be done remotely and would be very self-directed, therefore could work around most disabilities. If you would like to discuss any accommodations you would require, don't hesitate to get in touch.