I am a qualitative researcher with a special interest in narrative research methods and the study of sensitive topics. My PhD explores the context and experiences of a hidden population of women who use illicit drugs in Scotland, using auto-ethnographic and narrative methods to analyse drug storytelling practices through an intersectional lens. I adopt a reflexive and situated approach to qualitative research on marginalised populations and explicitly utilise my own experiences of marginality and stigmatisation to build trusting and empathic relationships with research participants.

I am currently teaching and co-ordinating the Victimology and Deconstructing crime and criminality modules in the undergraduate Criminal Justice programme. For the second year I am delivering 'Women , Drugs and creative research methods' for the Contemporary Studies in Criminal Justice module. In addition, I am contributing to Foundations of qualitative research whilst supervising a number of undergraduate dissertations. As a first generation scholar I am passionate about widening access to higher education and inspiring students from non-traditional backgrounds to achieve their potential and I am at present in the process of developing a mentorship programme for first generation students.

Title: Between Two Worlds: creative qualitative data analysis and researcher identity By Dr Karen Hammond and Dr Nick Fuller edited By Helen Kara

Building on a developing practice of first person writing as critical method and a theory of knowledge as partial and situated, this chapter takes the form of an autoethnography by two early career researchers, Dr Karen Hammond and Dr Nick Fuller. It demonstrates first-hand the potential of autoethnography to assist in the development and dissemination of creative forms of qualitative data analysis and it is hoped that the conversational style will make learning data analysis methods more accessible and engaging for students and experienced researchers alike. Sketching an outline of our different approaches, we explain how and why they came to be in response to the unique demands of our projects and how we have come to understand them as consistent with indigenous ways of knowing. Further, we explore the challenge of developing creative approaches to qualitative data analysis in the context of mainstream research spaces where conforming to institutional and disciplinary norms is rewarded with research capital.  Our dialogue seeks to address important ethical and practical considerations; as we render visible some of the difficulties in describing and engaging with highly individual experiences, we reflect on if and how such creative methods that require specific skillsets and qualities can be taught or passed onto to other researchers.