Director | Evidence to Action lead
Sarah Morton was a Co-director and Evidence to Action lead at What Works Scotland until October 2017. She is now a Director at Matter of Focus.
At the same time as working with What Works Scotland she was Co-Director (Knowledge Exchange) at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. Sarah led a Knowledge Exchange team which facilitated ways in which research on families and relationships can be widely used, carried out research on evidence to action, and led on strategy for the Centre.
Sarah’s other roles have included:
- Director (KERI) for the Usher Institute of Public Health
- Impact Analyst within the University of Edinburgh and with wider projects
- Associate of the Research Unit for Research Utilisation
- Associate of the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement
She has been an Associate Editor of the journal Evidence and Policy since 2014. She was a member of the Scottish Funding Council’s working group on Knowledge Exchange and Public Policy.
She has been the knowledge exchange adviser for two UK-wide ESRC centres – Timescapes and the Centre for Population Change – and advised a research group from the University of Toronto on their knowledge exchange strategy.
About Sarah’s research
Sarah’s research has investigated the process assessing the impact of research on policy and practice.
She has a specialism in Contribution Analysis and uses this approach in a variety of projects, often working with non-academic partners. Sarah has developed a research synthesis service for the children and family sector, and has worked on the issues of research partnerships.
What Works Scotland Publications
- Keyword Partnership Seminar Presentations (June 2015)
- Getting evidence into action to improve Scotland’s public services (February 2015) – Co-authored
What Works Scotland blog posts
- Getting evidence into action: how can we understand what we already know? (January 2017)
- Getting Knowledge into Action in Fife (December 2015)
- Health and social care integration: Sharing learning across the North Sea (September 2015)
- Creating an Evidence Bank for Public Service Reform (January 2015)
Contact Sarah
