About Karen's experience

  I had the good fortune to work with Karen Kellard for almost 10 years, from 2012 to 2021, in my capacity as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Social Research Centre (SRC) in Melbourne, Australia. 

At the time of recruiting Karen, SRC was already strongly committed to methodological rigour, methodological advancement, and total transparency with respect to social science survey research. Karen brought all these attributes to the SRC in her practice of qualitative research and this alignment of research philosophies underpinned Karen’s successes with SRC and the subsequent establishment and growth of its Qualitative Research Business Unit.

Karen has an array of professional skills, as well as personal attributes including tenacity, hard-work, loyalty and a commitment to her craft. Karen is a skilled communicator, in writing and in person, with expertise in extracting traceable research evidence from sometimes unruly qualitative data. Karen is also a great teacher and role model - the consummate professional.

I highly recommend Karen and wish Lotus Social Research Services every success.

Our team engaged Karen, then the Executive Director, Qualitative Research at the Social Research Centre, to conduct qualitative work as a part of a broader measure development process for a population-wide survey about childhood adversity in Australia. Given the sensitivity of the research questions it was essential that we thoroughly test the items both for validity and comprehension but also for the potential to cause distress, with a range of different populations. Karen led the qualitative aspects of the data collection. She worked closely with us in determining our goals and was able to recommend and implement scientifically sound, theoretically-informed qualitative methods to meet the project’s needs. Practically she developed cognitive interviewing protocols, supervised staff, conducted cognitive interviews (in person and online), and wrote a formal report with recommendations. Her involvement contributed significantly to our project’s success, and we have since co-published a scientific article about this process. Karen was a pleasure to work with. She was responsive to feedback, could easily adapt protocols as needed, and was able to share her extensive knowledge in a way that benefitted our team. I have no hesitation in recommending Karen and wish her and Lotus Social Research Services every success. 

We approached Karen to help us with our research project ‘Understanding the barriers to seeking treatment for addiction’.  The research had been commissioned by Public Health Leicestershire to better inform them for their next procurement round for substance misuse services in 2025 and we had little to no experience of this kind of thing within the organisation.  

Karen was amazing and supported us through the whole process sharing her knowledge and experience to better inform our project from proposal right through to the analysis of the data. Karen’s provided initial training to our staff on qualitative research and qualitative interviewing so we could establish a good understanding before we embarked on gathering our data.  Karen also recorded a session on interviewing techniques and data analysis, providing tips and best practice for conducting research which was invaluable allowing us to return to it again and again.  

Karen’s continuous support and genuine interest in our project brought the subject alive and made it possible for us to successfully meet the outcomes for our commissioners.  I would have no hesitation in recommending Karen to anyone looking to carry out research or asking for Karen’s support again with any future research projects. 

I was fortunate to work with Karen on numerous high-profile, complex, and occasionally sensitive social research projects during the mid-2000s. Karen's expertise in her field is extensive, and her dedication to her work is admirable. Her knowledge of research techniques is vast, plus her professionalism and genuine passion shine through to every project. Karen's meticulous approach and empathetic nature are particularly evident when handling projects concerning delicate subject areas. Additionally, she is an exceptional collaborator who inspires, motivates, and establishes confidence in all those around her. I cannot recommend Karen enough.