  We present the results of an analysis of a well-selected sample of galaxies
with active and inactive galactic nuclei from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in
the range 0.01 < z < 0.16. The SDSS galaxy catalogue was split into two classes
of active galaxies, Type~2 AGN and composites, and one set of inactive,
star-forming/passive galaxies. For each active galaxy, two inactive control
galaxies were selected by matching redshift, absolute magnitude, inclination,
and radius. The sample of inactive galaxies naturally divides into a red and a
blue sequence, while the vast majority of AGN hosts occur along the red
sequence. In terms of H-alpha equivalent width, the population of composite
galaxies peaks in the valley between the two modes, suggesting a transition
population. However, this effect is not observed in other properties such as
colour-magnitude space, or colour-concentration plane. Active galaxies are seen
to be generally bulge-dominated systems, but with enhanced H-alpha emission
compared to inactive red-sequence galaxies. AGN and composites also occur in
less dense environments than inactive red-sequence galaxies, implying that the
fuelling of AGN is more restricted in high-density environments. These results
are therefore inconsistent with theories in which AGN host galaxies are a
`transition' population. We also introduce a systematic 3D spectroscopic
imaging survey, to quantify and compare the gaseous and stellar kinematics of a
well-selected, distance-limited sample of up to 20 nearby Seyfert galaxies, and
20 inactive control galaxies with well-matched optical properties. The survey
aims to search for dynamical triggers of nuclear activity and address
outstanding controversies in optical/IR imaging surveys.
