Ever wondered why your work friend always takes short-cuts at work, saying she’s saving time by doing so? Wondered why so many interventions and programs seem like they’ll work in a boardroom but have massive failures when implemented?

That’s a question Kellie Thomas, a pHD candidate at Charles Sturt University, is making sure to focus on in her work. Studying antibiotic resistance may seem like a hard science topic, something that’s just data and chemicals, but she says that it is critical that the human element--that is, the people--are considered in academic research.

On this episode of What’s Sociology Got To Do With It?, Thomas argues data becomes meaningless when it is divorced from its context and the stresses we face in our professional lives. She calls on scientists and policy makers to move beyond the numbers and to remember that there are individuals behind the numbers--individuals with experiences that can’t always be reduced down to a ‘y value’ or a statistical phenomenon. In other words, how do people respond to the stressors of their jobs, and what impact does this have on their work performance?

If you want to contact Thomas, she can be reached through e-mail at [email protected] or at amrvetcollective.com, which will launch later this year.

A transcript of this episode is available at www.thatsociologypodcast.org

Produced by Dr Sarina Kilham with support from Charles Sturt University and The Australian Sociological Association for Social Science Week 2020.