Applying qualitative research methods to reduce infectious disease

This event is part of a series of Psychology seminars that regularly occurs during the Autumn and Spring terms.

This talk illustrates the diverse use of qualitative research methods within intervention development and evaluation in infectious disease. It uses examples of funded research (Scottish government, and NIHR) relating to the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.

Throughout, there is a focus on how qualitative research (primarily thematic analysis) can be used to understand and theorise the drivers of behaviours in order to develop interventions - yet also how they can be used to understand the implementation of complex interventions. The talk also illustrates the diverse use of logic models as vital tools to specify intervention content and enable subsequent intervention evaluation. Similarly, the talk also shows how qualitive research can be combined with theoretical frameworks from implementation science (e.g., the behaviour change wheel or normalisation process theory) to move the use of qualitative research methods beyond descriptive or observational social science.

The talk will appeal to anyone with an interest in the applied use of qualitative research - particularly in the context of intervention development and evaluation. It will also appeal to people with an interest in the larger fields of behaviour change, implementation science, infectious disease or complex public health interventions.