In addition to formal training, OCR fosters skills development via coaching and mentoring.  Areas in which we have provided coaching and mentoring include small business development, venture capital pitches, careers coaching, and scientific skills, including science writing and data analysis.  We have developed organisational mentoring programmes, and also participated in a coaching and mentoring research programme run by Manchester Business School.

Case studies

Mentoring of young scientists/junior staff

OCR has provided one to one mentoring of young scientists and junior staff in the area of scientific communication (verbal and written) and staff management issues.  This has included ongoing support over a period of several months or years, once off support, and co-supervisions of academic projects/PhDs.

Developing a mentoring programme

Our client was responsible for delivering all of the professional development activities to primary and secondary level teachers in a European country.  Part of their secondary level support involved the mentoring of school principals. Together with Jerry Cronin, OCR designed a mentoring programme, including training for mentors and evaluation processes, which was adopted and implemented by our client.

OCR has extensive skills in writing for different audiences (e.g. academic journal articles, internal reports, and Easy Read reports for audiences with learning disabilities).

Mapping of Sport for Development research

There is a perception in the Sport for Development sector that ‘more evidence is needed’ for the value of Sport for Development interventions. We interviewed a number of strategic actors in the Sport for Development sector (e.g. funders, researchers), and also reviewed research planned and in progress, and the status of sector-specific Monitoring and Evaluation ‘toolkits’.  The results are discussed within a ‘knowledge brokering’ framework, describing the issues and proposing practical solutions under the heading ‘problem definition’, ‘knowledge generation’ and ‘knowledge use’.  A copy of the report is available here, with a summary presentation here.

We also provide subediting services e.g. where English is not the first language of the author, or for early career researchers who benefit from coaching in research communication.

Many of our internal reports are confidential, but a flavour of our work can be seen in the tagclouds below.

Sample publications and patents include…

Woodcock A, Cronin, Ó, & Forde S. (in preparation).  Building capacity for monitoring and evaluation in a Kenyan sport for development project (to be submitted to Development in Practice)

Woodcock, A., Cronin, Ó, Forde, S., Nazi, B. (2010).  Quantitative evidence for the benefits of Sport for Development in rural Kenya.  Submitted to Evaluation & Programme Planning

Woodcock, A., Leman, P., Cronin, Ó., Porta, L., Noreisch, M., & Madonda, E. (2009). The impact of participation in sport for development projects in Europe, Africa and South America: a qualitative investigation of members’ experience.  Submitted to Journal of Sport and Social Issues.

Cronin, Ó., El-Deredy, W., Harbron, C. G., Hayet, M. & Patel, S. (2001) Textual data. European Patent EP1271341

Bliss, J., Ogborn, J., Cronin, Ó., Reader, W. & Tsatsarelis, H.A. (1999). Empirical abstraction and imaginative denial of rules.  In Bliss, J., Saljo, R. & Light, P. (Eds).  Social and Technological Resources for Learning.  Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Cronin, Ó. (1997).  The psychology of the photograph.  In J. Prosser (Ed.)  Image-based research: A sourcebook for qualitative researchers.  London: Falmer Press.

Memon, A., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R. & Bull, R. (1996). An empirical test of the mnemonic components of the Cognitive Interview. In G.M. Davies, S. Lloyd-Bostock, M. McMurran & C. Wilson (Eds.).  Psychology, law and criminal justice: International developments in research and practice. Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 135-146.

Cronin, Ó. & Gale, A. (1996).  Photographs and the therapeutic process.  Clinical Psychology Forum, 89, 22-24.

Cronin, Ó. & Gale, A. (1995).  Phototherapie: Ein kritischer Überblick.  Integrative Therapy, 3-4, p. 245-264

Memon, A., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R. & Bull, R. (1993).  The Cognitive Interview and Child Witnesses.  In G.M. Stephenson & N.K. Clark (Eds.)  Children, Evidence and Procedure: Issues in Criminological & Legal Psychology.  No. 20. BPS.

Cronin, Ó. (1992).  Helping children to recall.  In Investigative Interviewing with Children, pp 35-37.  Milton Keynes: OUP.

Sample conference papers and posters include

Woodcock, A. & Cronin, Ó (2010).  A new monitoring and evaluation toolkit for sport for development projects.  Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2010, 14-16 April 2010. Stratford-on-Avon, UK.

Woodcock, A. & Cronin, Ó. (2009) Monitoring & evaluation toolkit for sport for development: Empowering projects to conduct internal evaluation. Up2Us National Conference, Chicago, October 2009 .

Woodcock, A., Leman, P., Cronin, Ó., Porta, I., Noreisch, M. & Madonda, E. (2008)  Perceived benefits of participation in sports projects: the views of young people on three continents.  Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, April 2008. (winner of best poster prize).

Woodcock, A., Leman, P., Davis-Gill, S., Cronin, Ó., Porta, I., Noreisch, M., & Madonda, E. (2007). Impact of Participation in Sport-Focused Projects on the Lives of Young People in Europe, Africa & South America. Paper presented at the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies Annual Conference, San Diego, December 2007.

Stubenitsky, K. and Cronin, Ó. (2005).  Applying learnings from children’s nutrition education & health promotion intervention studies to promoting food products for children within a realistic purchase environment.  Poster presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Amsterdam, June 2005.

Cronin, Ó. (1995).  Mining the family archive: The use of the family photographic collection in the family’s construction of reality.  Paper presented at the Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, November, 1995.

Cronin, Ó. (1995).  The Meaning and Functions of Family Photographic Collections.  Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section Annual Conference, September, 1995.

Cronin, Ó. and Gale, A. (1994).  The psychological significance of family photographs.  Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Undergraduate/Postgraduate conference, March 1994.

Cronin, Ó. and Gale, A. (1993).  Mirrors and prisms: Lay theories of photographic meaning. British Psychological Society London Conference Abstracts, p. 3.

Memon, A., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R. and Bull, R. (1992)  An empirical test of the mnemonic components of the Cognitive Interview. Paper presented at the Third European Conference of Law and Psychology, September, 1992.

Küpper, B., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R., Memon, A. and Bull, R. (1992).  TheCognitive Interview: Scoring recall. Poster presented at the Third European Conference of Law and Psychology, September, 1992.

Cronin, Ó. Memon, A., Eaves, R., Küpper, B. and Bull, R. (1992).  TheCognitive Interview: A child centred approach? Poster presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute: The Child Witness in Context: Cognitive, Social and Legal Perspectives, La Lucca, Italy. May 1992.

Memon, A., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R., Küpper, B. and Bull, R. (1992).  TheCognitive Interview and child witnesses.  Paper presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute: The Child Witness in Context.  La Lucca, Italy. May 1992

Memon, A., Cronin, Ó., Eaves, R. and Bull, R. (1992).  The Cognitive Interview and Child witnesses.  Paper presented at the second annual conference of the BPS Division of Criminological and Legal Psychology, March, 1992.