How do we ‘qual the quant’?  Bringing social and structural insights and lived realities into quantitative research

When: Monday October 20, 2025 12:10-1pm
Where: FIFSW Webinar Rm# 422 and Zoom
What to expect: Dr. James Stannah will reflect on his journey from a quantitative PhD in epidemiology to a postdoctoral position in social work.

A light lunch will be provided. All are welcome. Registration is required.

RSVP by October 16th by filling out this form.

Participants are encouraged to attend the session in-person; however, a Zoom link is included in the invite for those that need to attend virtually.

About the talk

Quantitative methods are powerful tools for shaping public health and social policy, but when numbers are disconnected from lived realities and ignore structural contexts, their impacts can be limited. In this talk, Dr. James Stannah will reflect on his journey from a quantitative PhD in epidemiology to a postdoctoral position in social work, exploring how qualitative insights can strengthen quantitative research on sexual and reproductive health. Drawing on examples from his own work and ongoing projects at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Dr. Stannah will discuss how integrating qualitative perspectives, and social and structural concepts, can improve study design, direct quantitative analyses, illuminate causal mechanisms, contextualise findings, and enhance policy relevance. In doing so, he hopes to provide practical advice for researchers who want to bridge qualitative and quantitative approaches in their own work.

About James Stannah

James Stannah is a postdoctoral social epidemiologist and global health researcher with a focus on HIV and other sexually transmitted and bloodborne infection (STBBI) prevention, and sexual health and wellbeing among marginalised populations, in particular LGBTQIA+ people and women and girls. Stannah’s research explores how social and structural factors, like stigma, discrimination, interpersonal violence, and legal barriers, affect health and wellbeing outcomes and access to care across settings in the Global North and South. Recently, through joining the SSHINE Lab at U of T led by Dr. Carmen Logie, Stannah has begun looking at the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on resource insecurity and sexual and reproductive health outcomes.