Carl May

FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(born 1961, in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

) is a British sociologist. He researches in the fields of

medical sociology Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of medical organizations and institutions; the production of knowledge and selection of methods, the actions and interactions of healthcare professionals, and the social or cultural (rather than clin ...

and

science and technology studies Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...

. Formerly based at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

, he is now Professor of Medical Sociology at the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

. Carl May was elected an

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

of the

Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences The Academy of Social Sciences is a representative body for social sciences in the United Kingdom. The Academy promotes social science through its sponsorship of the Campaign for Social Science, its links with Government on a variety of matters, ...

in 2006. He was appointed a Senior Investigator at the

National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...

(NIHR) in 2010. His work falls into two distinct themes. In

he has researched and published mainly on professional-patient interaction and relationships in clinical settings. This work has its roots in

social constructionism Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...

and the social theory of

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

. Over the past decade his work has become more focused on the ways that interaction processes are embedded in, and represent, their socio-technical contexts. This led to studies of the interaction between health technologies and their users. These studies have explored the sociology of telemedicine In a later paper, he argues that the benefits of telemedicine does not outweigh the additional burden on patients and their social support networks. In

Science and Technology Studies Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...

his work investigates how innovations become routinely embedded in health care and other organizational systems. This research has led to

Normalization Process Theory Normalization process theory (NPT) is a sociological theory, generally used in the fields of science and technology studies (STS), Implementation Science, and healthcare system research. The theory deals with the adoption of technological and or ...

, developed with Tracy Finch and others, including Victor Montori. This is a

sociological theory A sociological theory is a that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective,Macionis, John and Linda M. Gerber. 2010. ''Sociology'' (7th Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson E ...

of the

implementation Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy. Industry-specific definitions Computer science In computer science, an implementation is a realiza ...

, embedding, and integration of new technologies and organizational

innovations Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

. It is founded on, and has superseded, an earlier Normalization Process Model for evaluating

randomized controlled trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...

, health technologies, and complex interventions in health care. Most recently, May and colleagues have applied Normalization Process Theory to explaining patient non-compliance with treatment, proposing that a proportion of non-compliance is structurally induced by healthcare systems themselves as patients are overburdened by treatment. To counter this, they have proposed Minimally Disruptive Medicine,May C, Montori VM, Mair FS. We need minimally disruptive medicine. BMJ 2009;339:b2803 which seeks to take account of its effects on patients' workload.

References

External links

Normalization Process Theory Website

Carl May's academia.edu page

Carl May's personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Carl R. 1961 births Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Academics of Newcastle University British sociologists Medical sociologists People from Farnham Living people Academics of the University of Southampton Science and technology studies scholars NIHR Senior Investigators