Talk given by Rosamund Snow

In most fields of study, there are hidden expectations about who is the most suitable person to research a subject, and whose experiences count as ‘data’. Rosamund will discuss the differences between being a researcher from the “right” backround or the “wrong” background, and describe the unexpected things it reveals about the research process. She will ask questions about how you could use your own life experience in your studies and whether you should; what the norms are for researchers in your discipline; and what that means for the results of that research.

Rosamund Snow worked in communications in the private, public, and charity sectors for 20 years, and has been living with type 1 diabetes since she was a teenager. Having been the subject of other people‘s research projects on numerous occasions, in 2013 she completed an NIHR funded PhD as a service-user-researcher, working on an entirely patient led project to explore diabetes healthcare services from the users’ point of view. She now works at Oxford University, developing and researching patients’ involvement in medical education, and is the BMJ’s Patient Editor. She also teaches research methods at King’s College, London. She has published on obstacles to accessing healthcare services, the role of the expert patient, clinician/patient/researcher partnerships, and best practice models in patient driven education for healthcare professionals.

This talk is being held as part of the Qualitative Research Methods module which is part of the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care. Members of the public are welcome to attend.