London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
(University of London)
Department of Public Health & Policy
Research Fellow
Qualitative Research
We are seeking a social scientist with qualitative experience and an interest in the sociology
of transport and/or health to contribute to an exciting project that is studying the impact of
free bus travel for young people on the public health.
The study
The NIHR Public Health Programme has funded a study called ‘On the buses’: evaluating
the impact of introducing free bus travel for young people on the public health’.
In London, young people aged under 16 have been able to access free bus and tram travel
since September 2005. This was extended to under 18 year olds in education, work or
training in September 2006. There are likely to be both health promoting and health
damaging effects of free bus travel. One incentive for this policy was to decrease ‘transport
exclusion’, and ensure that access to goods, services, education and training opportunities
were not denied to some young people because of transport poverty. We would expect that
this would increase health, as transport access is linked to well-being. However, other health
effects of free bus travel might include: young people walking less often or less far, and thus
taking less exercise, or being more exposed to minor crime and assault as they travel
further for longer distances. Free bus travel for young people might also reduce access
other age groups have to transport if, for instance, the buses become too full, or older
people are intimidated. This study will use mixed methods to identify the health promoting
and health damaging effects of providing access to bus travel for under 18 year olds.
The aims of the study are to:
1. Determine the causal pathways that plausibly link transport interventions and young
people’s health;
2. Identify the ways in which young people and older citizens understand the role of bus
and other transport mode access in facilitating and constraining their wellbeing;
3. Assess the impact of free bus travel for 12-17 year olds on their use of bus and other
transport modes;
4. Assess the impact of free bus travel for 12-17 year olds on the use of bus and other
transport modes by older age population groups;
5. Identify changes in the incidence of injury in young people after they had access to
free bus travel;
6. Investigate, develop and apply a method for conducting an economic evaluation of
the health impacts from introducing free bus travel for young people in London and
other similar social interventions.
The post
We are looking for a social scientist with experience of qualitative research and an interest
in the sociology of transport or the sociology of health. Working as part of a multidisciplinary project team, the Research Fellow will take the lead on the qualitative
component of the study, which aims to identify the ways in which young people and older
citizens understand the role of bus and other transport mode access in facilitating and
constraining their wellbeing. Specifically, the RF will be responsible for recruiting
participants to the study, conducting interviews, running focus groups, arranging for them to
be transcribed, conducting qualitative analysis and contributing to writing papers.
This post-holder will be part of a research team from LSHTM’s cross-department Transport
and Health group (http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/nphiru/research/transportandhealthgroup/) and
collaborating institutions, including the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds. He/she will
work closely with the Principal Investigator (Judith Green) and Rebecca Steinbach at
LSHTM, as well as collaborators from other institutions including Prof Helen Roberts.
Duties and responsibilities of the post:
i.
Research
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ii.
Contribute to the ‘On the buses’ project by recruiting qualitative study
participants, conducting interviews, running focus groups and maintaining good
administrative records for the project
Lead on the management and analysis of qualitative data
Contribute to writing papers for peer-reviewed or prestigious journals
Collaborate on preparation of posters and oral contributions for national or
international conferences
Ensure good ethical practice and research governance, including ensuring that
participants have all provided informed consent, maintaining the confidentiality of
all study data.
Teaching
The post-holder will be expected to contribute up to 15% of his or her time to teaching in the
Department, including contributing to:
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iii.
tutoring 1-2 MSc students (or DL equivalent)
taking seminar or practical groups
undergoing training in teaching skills
Citizenship
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Contribute to the activities of the Transport and Health group
Contribute to the Health Services Research Unit and the Department of Public
Health and Policy
Person specification:
Essential:
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a Masters degree in a relevant area (or equivalent)
experience of generating, managing and analysing qualitative data
good organisational and administrative skills
 ability and willingness to travel around London for fieldwork
 willingness to work out of office hours depending on the needs of the fieldwork
Desirable:
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a PhD in a relevant area
knowledge of sociology, particularly the sociology of transport or health
proven record of writing reports and academic papers
experience in working with children and young people and/or older citizens
presentational skills
experience of teaching
proven ability to work in a team
Accountability
Rebecca Steinbach has responsibility for day to day management of the project. The
Research Fellow will be accountable to Judith Green as the grant-holder and through her to
the Head of the HSRU (currently Professor Nicholas Mays), the Head of the Department of
Public Health & Policy, and ultimately to the Dean of the School.
Salary and conditions of employment
Salary will be on the Research Fellow scale (£35,370 – £40,188 p. a. as at 1 October 2009).
The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service, including
membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme.
The post is for 18 months, starting June 2010.
The School's retirement date is 30 September following the 65th birthday. It is the School's
policy not to appoint candidates aged 65 or over.
Applications
We encourage you to apply for this post online at our website jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The
reference for this post will be JG01. Online applications will be accepted by the automated
system until midnight on 22 March 2010.
If you are unable to apply online, please contact us at jobs@lshtm.ac.uk or telephone 0207
927 2173.
The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and
training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs
addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection
process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not
be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as “Please see attached CV” will not
be considered acceptable.
It is hoped to hold the interviews on Wednesday 7 April.
Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may
not be possible to offer you an alternative date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is Britain's national school of public
health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for research and postgraduate
education in global health.
Part of the University of London, the London School is the largest institution of its kind in
Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines.
The School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the country in the Times
Higher Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the 2008 Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE), ahead of the London School of Economics, Oxford, Imperial and University
College, London. The institution also achieved the largest increase in ranking compared with
2001 of any of the top 10 institutions in the RAE rankings.
The School’s environment is a rich multicultural one: every year over 800 students come to
the School from around 120 countries to study doctoral or masters degrees. The School has
about 1200 staff drawn from around 45 nationalities.
There are research collaborations with over 100 countries throughout the world, utilizing our
critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians, epidemiologists,
statisticians, social scientists, molecular biologists and immunologists. At any one time
around 80 School staff are based overseas, particularly in Africa and Asia. We have a
strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle income countries to
support the development of teaching and research capacity.
The School has expanded greatly in recent years. Its research funding now exceeds £48 m
per annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international sources. The
distance learning programme which was launched in 1998 now caters for over 2000
students studying on four masters programmes. The commitment of staff to methodological
rigour, innovative thinking and policy relevance will ensure that the School continues to
occupy a leadership position in national and global health, adapting quickly to new
challenges and opportunities.
Mission
The School's mission is to contribute to the improvement of health worldwide through the
pursuit of excellence in research, postgraduate teaching and advanced training in national
and international public health and tropical medicine, and through informing policy and
practice in these areas.
Organisation and Management
There are three academic departments, one principally concerned with infectious and
tropical diseases and two with public health (Department of Epidemiology & Population
Health; Department of Public Health & Policy).
Department of Public Health and Policy
The Department of Public Health & Policy is responsible for research and teaching in the
policy, planning and evaluation of health programmes and services. Its interests are both
national and international, encompassing industrialized, and less developed countries. The
Department has three research units:
Health Services Research
Health Policy
Public and Environmental Health
Each unit is multidisciplinary containing about 50 - 70 academic staff representing medicine,
statistics, epidemiology, sociology, economics, anthropology, operational research,
psychology, nursing and history. Each unit is responsible for its own research. The School
has adopted a rotating system of management for its academic units and departments. The
management of a unit is under the control of the Unit Head, appointed by the Director for a
period of three years in the first instance. The Department Head is appointed in a similar
manner but for an initial period of up to five years.
The Department currently has a staff of 19 professors, 7 readers, 26 senior lecturers, 47
lecturers, 77 research fellows and assistants, about 40 computing, administrative and
secretarial staff, and a number of honorary staff.
Health Services Research Unit
This Unit aims to provide evidence that will lead to improvements in health care, in terms of
equity and humanity as well as effectiveness and efficiency, largely through better decisionmaking and organisation. The types of study involved range in scope from assessment of
specific health technologies and approaches to providing care through to the evaluation of
health sector reforms and historical analysis of health care. These are underpinned by
methodological work including the development of new instruments for assessing health
outcomes, the use of mathematical models for evaluating policy options and reviews of
health services research methods. New priorities include research on the delivery and
organisation of health care and the development of public health indicators. The unit is
multidisciplinary, based on the complementary use of qualitative and quantitative methods.
The principal context is middle and high-income countries.
The Unit includes the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development, the NHS National
Co-ordinating Centre for Service Delivery and Organisation Research & Development, the
School’s European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition. The Unit also runs the
Clinical Effectiveness Unit of The Royal College of Surgeons. Close, highly valued, links are
maintained with the UK National Health Service together with health institutions and services
in Europe and beyond.
Further details about the unit are available at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/hsru/.