A Sociological Imagination in Public Health: Systematic Review, Qualitative Studies and Young People's Health in Schools

Since the 1970s, public health research has shown a renewed focus on the social determinants of health. A focus on the social or ‘upstream’ determinants of health suggests the value of developing sociological analyses. My research applies a sociological imagination to public health science to develop an understanding of the interrelationship between, on the one hand, individual experiences and, on the other, societal arrangements and social position. This research is critical because a public health science oriented towards equitable improvement of people’s lives will require attending to the connections between health and their social contexts.

In this critical overview I re-assess the publications I have submitted for the degree of PhD by publication, which includes six peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2013-2015 in top ranking journals in sociology and public health. I highlight the original empirical, theoretical and methodological contributions the publications have made to two domains of public health research and practice: a) school health and b) systematic review methods. The common thread underpinning my research across these domains is situating an understanding of health within a framework of larger social processes. A key aim of this overview is therefore to elaborate and extend my thinking from individual publications to bring this to fruition. I do so by using Anthony Giddens’ notion of structuration as an over-arching theoretical lens to interpret my qualitative research (including interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis and qualitative systematic reviews including meta-ethnography and meta-narrative synthesis) and to illustrate that attending to the duality of structure and agency is useful for providing a framework through which to assess research and practice, and for developing theories which could inform the design and evaluation of complex health interventions.