Ruth Watkins has over 15 years of experience in conducting social research and working in an academic setting. She holds a BA in Area Studies specializing in Latin America and an ESRC-accredited MSc in Social Research. Her research has focused on issues related to child exploitation. She has worked on numerous research projects involving qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, surveys, and data analysis. Her duties have included developing research instruments, conducting literature reviews, transcribing interviews, and assisting with all aspects of the research process from planning to dissemination of findings.

1. RUTH WATKINS
PROFILE
PERSONAL DETAILS
EMAIL : ruth.watkins22@gmail.com
TELEPHONE: 07941120606
LINKEDIN uk.linkedin.com/in/ruthwatkins1
PERSONAL STATEMENT
In 2001 I was awarded a BA (Hons) in Area Studies, specialising in Latin America, from
the University of Portsmouth. I studied modules in the politics, literature, sociology,
history, environment, and economics of Latin America together with research methods
and linguistics. I spent the 3rd year of the course in Cost a Rica researching my
dissertation on child prostitution; exploring the factors that determine why children
become involved in commercial sexual exploitation and the secondary abuses they suffer
as a result of the exploitation.
In 2007 I was awarded an ESRC accredited MSc in Social Research at the University of
Plymouth, studying modules in qualitative and quantitative research methods including
the use of SPSS and NVivo; interview and observation techniques; and questionnaire
design. For the final year dissertation I continued my research into child sexual
exploitation by looking at formal / informal sector tourism and the resulting sex tourism;
and the rise in global advertising of sexual services through the Internet.
In December 2012 I gained a Grade 2 pass in the Open University module ‘Research
with Children and Young People’. The course covered all aspects of the research process
within education, social science, and health and social care including ethical and legal
issues; power relations; reviewing literature; selecting appropriate research methods;
observational and experimental approaches; interviews and surveys; collecting, coding
and analysing data; interpreting and writing up results; and disseminating the findings.
For the course project I wrote a research proposal entitled ‘The perspectives and
opinions of home-educated children aged eleven to fifteen on their own educational and
socialisation experiences’, identifying the need for children and young people t o be
participants and co-researchers in research. I hope to carry out this research project and
would welcome any interest from a potential PI.
From January 2009 until October 2010 I worked for the South West Lifelong Learning
Network (SWLLN) at Plymouth University as the Research and Administrative Assistant
on a large project aimed at understanding the educational and training needs for Devon
and Cornwall’s parish and town councils in the context of achieving sustainable
communities:
My duties on this project included:
 Assisting with the planning of the research project and refining the research
objectives
 Assisting with the development of questionnaires and surveys
 Carrying out in-depth semi-structured interviews with town and parish councillors
 Transcribing the fieldwork interviews and focus groups

2.  Developing data collection instruments
 Conducting literature searches and reviews
 Database and spreadsheet entry and upkeep
 Being the point of contact for stakeholders, research colleagues and external
agencies
 Booking interviews and the planning and organisation of meetings
 The upkeep of electronic and paper filing systems
 Day-to-day administration and finance
From 2007-2008 I worked for the Socio-Economic Research and Information
Observatory (SERIO) at the University of Portsmouth on a 6 month contract, gaining
valuable research experience. Working within this very busy environment meant that I
was expected to analyse and interpret the results of my own research; develop the
ability to manage my time and workload; work to a very stringent timeframe, and to
prioritise my work with the minimum of supervision. The variety of projects within SERIO
equipped me with experience of using both qualitative and quantitative research
methods and included:
 Project leading a feasibility study into an accommodation support and advice
service for newly released prisoners within three South West prisons –
developing a semi-structured questionnaire; being the point of contact and
liaising with stakeholders; booking and carrying out telephone interviews; and
contributing to the analysis and writing up of the draft report
 Researching and developing a database of education providers for over-16s
within the Plymouth Travel to Work Areas for the World Class Skills project;
sourcing and filing documentation
 Conducting street and venue interviews for the Plymouth Summer Festival
events; coding and inputting data
 Scribing and assisting with focus groups around the UK for a DEFRA ‘Local and
Regional Food Buying in England’ project, looking at both trade and consumer
aspects; transcribing the digital recordings taken at the fieldwork interviews;
conducting telephone interviews; and inputting data
Since 2009 I have worked as a ‘Visiting Specialist’ for Plymouth University, and as a self-
employed transcriber, conducting and transcribing fieldwork interviews and focus
groups; data entry – inputting vast amounts of clinical data, producing discrepancy
reports, and data-cleaning; assisting with the preparing, setting up, conducting and
recording of the outcomes of fieldwork; day-to-day administration, organisation and
budgeting of projects; and as the point of contact for stakeholders and organisation of
meetings, visits and interviews
In addition to research work, I have many years' experience in academic and public
libraries. This has given me training in the sourcing and retrieval of data, information
and documentation; database searches; library catalogues, and e-resources.