My overarching interest is in how social categories are used in everyday life as people seek to understand, challenge, debate or deny unjust social relations and practices. I see social categories as central to the relationship between representation and power (and hence to the way ideology works) because of the processes of social influence and collective behaviour that stem from them. I use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore these issues.

My recent and on-going work can be grouped into the following areas:
• Racism and the politics of immigration and multiculturalism
• Social comparisons in ideology and talk
• Police authority and legitimacy