Sarah is a social researcher by background who applies qualitative research methods to applied health research. Research interests include service delivery, treatment seeking behaviour, patient experiences of musculoskeletal conditions and using theoretical frameworks to understand the implementation of complex interventions. She has experience of these both within the NHS and in global health settings.

Sarah is a Senior Research Associate based in the Musculoskeletal Research Unit working on the Atlas study (Ethnographic Study of Care Pathways for Arthroplasty Patients). This is an NIHR funded qualitative project which aims to explore how, and in which ways, the enhanced recovery pathway through hip and knee replacement surgery is implemented across different hospital settings.

Currently, she is also completing a PhD study in the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford. This explores the organisation and delivery of clubfoot treatment services in Malawi using ethnographic research methods including participant observation, formal and informal interviews, focus groups and in-depth case studies.  Prior to this, she led the qualitative component of a mixed-methods study funded by the NIHR at the University of Oxford, identifying the best models of care for the prevention of secondary fractures after hip fracture. She has also worked as a mixed methods researcher within the voluntary sector.

Methodological expertise includes ethnography, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and case studies. Qualitative analysis techniques are thematic analysis, framework approach, grounded theory and abductive analyses. She also has experience in using established techniques to conduct systematic syntheses of existing qualitative research.