Dr James Thomas
- Qualifications and position:
- MA, MMus, GGSM, PhD
- Assistant Director SSRU
- Associate Director EPPI-Centre
Reader in Social Policy
Assistant Director for Health and Wellbeing, Institute of Education
- Faculty:
- Faculty of Children and Learning
- Department:
- Centre:
- Summary:
- I am the Director of the EPPI-Centre's Reviews Facility for the Department of Health, England, which undertakes systematic reviews across a range of policy areas to support the department. I specialise in developing methods for research synthesis, in particular for qualitative and mixed methods reviews and in using emerging information technologies such as text mining in research. I lead a module on synthesis and critical appraisal on the EPPI-Centre's MSc in Research for Public Policy and Practice and development on the Centre's in-house reviewing software, EPPI-Reviewer.
- Teaching:
- Research Projects:
- Postgraduate Research:
- Research interests:
systematic reviewing
methods for research synthesis and research more broadly
the use of new information technologies in social research
evidence informed policy and practice
health promotion and public health.
- Conferences/presentations:
- Synthesis of study findings using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. ESRC Methods Festival, Oxford (July 2010).
Evidence beyond effectiveness: the role of qualitative research in supporting policy decisions. Annual Conference on Global Health and Vaccination, Oslo (November 2009).
In what ways can synthesising qualitative research be systematic? 17th Cochrane Colloquium, Singapore (October 2009).
- Personal Country Knowledge:
- South Africa 2001 and 2008; workshops for policy-makers, practitioners and researchers on using research to inform HIV prevention ('HIVSA' and 'HIVSAII'); University of Johannesburg
Publications
- Gough, D, Oliver, S, Thomas J (2012) An Introduction to Systematic Reviews. London: Sage Publications. ISBN:9781849201810.
- Stansfield, C, Kavanagh, J, Rees, R, Gomersall, A, Thomas, J (2012) 'The selection of search sources influences the findings of a systematic review of people's views: a case study in public health', BMC Medical Research Methodology 12:55,
- Thomas J, McNaught J, Ananiadou S (2011) Applications of text mining within systematic reviews. Research Synthesis Methods. 2(1): 1-14.
- Rees R, Oliver K, Woodman J, Thomas J (2011) 'The views of young children in the UK about obesity, body size, shape and weight: a systematic review', BMC Public Health 11:188 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-188,
- Harden A, Thomas J (2010) Mixed methods and systematic reviews: examples and emerging issues. In Tashakkori A, Teddlie C Handbook of Mixed Methods in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition. Sage. pp 749 - 774.
- Barnett-Page E, Thomas J (2009) 'Methods for the synthesis of qualitative research: a critical review', BMC Medical Research Methodology 9:59, doi:10.1186/1471-2288-9-59.
- Thomas J, Harden A (2009) 'Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews', BMC Medical Research Methodology 8:45 doi:10.1186/1471-2288-8-45 ,
- Harden A, Thomas J (2005) 'Methodological issues in combining diverse study types in systematic reviews', International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8 (3), 257-271.
- Oakley, A, Gough, D, Oliver, S, Thomas, J (2005) 'The politics of evidence and methodology: lessons from the EPPI-Centre as a case-study', Evidence & Policy 1, (1):5-31.
- Thomas, J, Harden, A, Oakley, A, Oliver, S, Sutcliffe, K, Rees, R, Brunton, G, Kavanagh, J (2004) 'Integrating qualitative research with trials in systematic reviews: an example from public health', British Medical Journal 328, 1010-1012.
- James Thomas' full list of publications (pdf)
