My research interests focus on understanding and improving practice in professional encounters, informed by my background as a registered social worker. I am experienced in making direct recordings of practice and using Conversation Analysis to identify (and improve) specific components of professional interaction. I have applied this to my doctoral research on the recruitment of fathers to parenting programmes as well as in other funded projects. My other research interests are in families, parenting and fatherhood, and practitioner engagement skills. I am an original member of the UoB Conversation Analysis Research Group.

Research projects

Current

Older men at the margins (OMAM) with Dr Paul Willis, Tricia Jessiman and Professor David Abbott.

Outcomes in social care assessments (OSCA) with Professor Liz Lloyd and Dr William Turner.

Recruiting fathers to family support services with South Gloucestershire Council.

Completed

The values of assessment (2017) with Professor Val Williams, Dr Sue Porter, Caroline Miles, Mike Steel and the West of England Centre for Inclusive Living.

Fathers with learning disabilities and their experiences of social care (2017) with Dr Daryl Dugdale.

Telephone calls to GP receptionists (2016) with Professor Elizabeth Stokoe and Dr Rein Sikveland.

Understanding the causes of miscommunication in primary care consultations for children with acute cough (UnPAC) (2015) with Dr Christie Cabral and Dr Rebecca Barnes.

'Have you got a partner as well?' Engaging fathers and other carers with parenting programmes: a study using Conversation Analysis (2015) PhD thesis.