Biography

I first studied Psychology at Esher College and knew very quickly that I wanted to continue studying it after college. On completing my A Levels I started a BSc in Psychology at the University of Surrey. The degree consisted of three years and the university and a placement year. My placement year was spent working with an early onset eating disorders team. This was made up of spending two days a week at St. Georges Hospital as part of the research team and two days of the week at Springfield Hospital on the inpatient ward. I felt the placement year helped me to mature and to prepare me for the final year of university. My undergraduate dissertation looked at the relationship between previous weight loss, current weight concern and the effect of priming.

Upon completion of my degree I started an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at the University of Surrey. This was a one year full time course that greatly enhanced my research skills. I completed a qualitative dissertation looking at strategies to maximise the impact of qualitative health research.

I am now in the first year of a PhD looking at the ‘so what?’ question in research.

Research Interests

My PhD work is looking at the ‘so what?’ question in research; when reading or reviewing a piece of research one often thinks ‘so what?’ What was the point of that research? What impact can it have or has it had? I aim to address this question by looking at the impact of research on smoking. I will be looking at what happened between the original evidence showing a link between smoking and disease (1950) and the eventual smoking ban in 2007.

My work will involve not only an analysis of the scientific research published during this period but also an analysis of tobacco advertisements in the press. The advertisements will be analysed in relation to theories of persuasion as their goal is ultimately to make people buy the product.  The scientific research will be analysed in relation to how research impacts on policy. The analyses of both the media advertisements and the scientific research will then be linked to behaviour change; whether trends in smoking behaviour can be linked to either the scientific research or the media advertisements will be studied.

At the end of my PhD I aim to have a better understanding of theories of persuasion; how media advertisements are used to persuade people and of how research affects policy. I hope to come to a conclusion as to what happened between 1950 and 2007 and why research linking smoking to disease took so long to impact on policy.

Teaching

As part of the tutorial team I am currently an academic tutor for undergraduate Psychology students. This involves taking tutorials covering fundamental academic skills such as essay writing, critical analysis and referencing. The role also involves marking the essays of the students in my tutor groups and giving them feedback.

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If you have any questions about my research please contact me using the information above.