Hazel ⋅ Office for Statistics Regulation

Researcher Details

Name
Hazel

Nationality
UK

University
The University of Sheffield

Research Pathway
Civil Society, Development and Democracy (CDD)

Thesis Project
When Do Transparency Interventions Build Trust? Investigating the Impact of Legally Mandated Disclosures on UK Citizen Evaluations in the Context of Online Political Campaigning

Mode of Study
Full-time

About the Placement 

Role Title

Project Advisor

Mode of Placement

Full-time

Placement Location

Online

How did you find your placement?

It was advertised on the WRDTP website / by email announcement

What were your main responsibilities during your placement?

I was tasked with creating a report to inform the OSR’s response to a recommendation from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC). The committee had praised the OSRs recently created transparency guidance for statistics producers and recommended that this be extended into an annual scorecard, where the actions of said producers would be monitored and scored against the guidance.

My main tasks involved:

• reviewing the use of scorecards by UK regulators,

• identifying the risks and how such risks could be mitigated,

• leading meetings with civil society stakeholders,

• giving internal presentations,

• writing up a report to guide next steps,

• attending weekly meetings with my supervisor as well as a monthly internal working group where I gave updates on my findings, received feedback and participated in broader discussions.

Although I worked independently on my project outputs, the whole process felt very collaborative and I was warmly welcomed into the team.

Why did you choose this role with this particular host?

I was lucky that the topic of the internship (political transparency) overlapped so strongly with my own PhD research. My doctoral project investigates how transparency initiatives can achieve their expected impact. The project with the OSR appealed because it was about transparency compliance but within a different setting. I was keen to see how the ideas I had been engaging with in my PhD applied elsewhere.

What was your greatest achievement during your placement?

Project timelines for a PhD stretch out over years. What I loved about this experience was the tight turnaround for each stage of the project. As someone who struggles to produce work quickly, I feel proud that at the end of the 3-months I had written an entire report. This gave me confidence in my time management skills.

Were there any challenging aspects during your placement?

As the placement was outside of academia, I found it challenging to figure out what kind of information was going to be useful and relevant for the organisation. Academic research has a very specific way of solving a problem, i.e., you identify a research question, design a methodology, etc. Within public sector organisations, there are different ways of making decisions. Without the framework of research, I found it difficult at first to know what to focus on and how to approach the project. This led to some initial moments of doubt and feelings of imposter syndrome. However, the OSR were so communicative and supportive, it didn’t take long to identify a way forward. My supervisor put in meetings with each team, and I was able to talk through the project and build up a sense of how it fit within the organisation’s goals. It was rewarding to overcome these feelings and adapt quickly to a new workplace environment.

How did your placement help you to develop your current skills and knowledge?

In my job applications, this placement features as one of my main examples for stakeholder engagement, effective prioritisation and translating research into recommendations. Compared to academic manuscripts, it was also valuable to write up work in the style of a report and to practice using the active voice and straightforward language.

How has your placement experience influenced your future career goals and aspirations?

As someone who wasn’t sure that a post-doc was the right next move for me, this experience was invaluable. As well as the skills and knowledge gained from the placement itself, I saw how a team functions in a different type of workplace. I had so far only worked in an academic context, which made it hard to know whether I would be happy or fulfilled in a different type of career. This experience gave me an idea of what to expect if transitioning out of academia, which has made me more flexible to different options and excited for what my future career may bring.

What tips or advice would you give to current or future WRDTP postgraduate researchers interested in undertaking a placement?

This is a great opportunity to see how non-academic organisations function. The great thing about a placement is that the knowledge you gain tends to benefit your PhD project in unexpected ways. The things I learned during my placement helped contextualise the theory I was engaging with as well as to identify new research questions with more practical value. My advice would be to take a complete break from PhD work if possible, ask a lot of questions, and be on the look out for insights you might not encounter within an academic context.