Thread by @DrJessTaylor

I am immensely proud of the fact that I always choose to present complex information in an accessible, simplified and jargon-free way. It might look ‘non-academic’ but that’s the point. I could write it to look like an impenetrable paper if I wanted, but what good would that do?

Academics often have to present their work in ways which mean that their own participants can’t even understand their own responses - and I don’t want my work to ever be like that. I want it to be laid out in easy read style every single time. I want accessibility and free access

We have a dataset with over 4 million data-points and it will take us all summer to finish the deeper statistical analysis. That will come out too, but I’m still going to present it as simply as possible, with as many diagrams and tables as I can so people can engage with it

Our new report is an accessible key facts document for anyone to pick up and read the basic findings before we release several in depth reports. It is vital that it is quick and easy to read because it is also very distressing data and people need to be able to dip in and out

We made several videos yesterday of us discussing the key issues, limitations and findings of our study which have also been criticised as being too simple - I’m not sure whether you are expecting us to talk about this like a human thesaurus to make it sound more academic?

When I wrote WWBE last year, the same criticism was levelled at me. That it was written as if A-level students could read it. I was like... yeah, that’s the point. We are talking about abuse which impacts massive sections of society, why create things that no one can access?

I could talk about this forever, as I believe that those of us studying oppression, abuse, trauma and violence have a duty to every victim to make our work free, accessible, easy read and relatable. I will continue to do this no matter how much I’m laughed at or criticised.

Whilst people criticise and laugh from their positions of entitlement, my work is being read by hundreds of thousands of people who suddenly feel they can engage and discuss.
My books are read by people who tell me they’ve never read a non-fiction before. Even teenagers read them

I would love to see more academic work presented like this, because trust me, ordinary people in the population DO want to read this stuff - but we often make it impossible for them to do so. Even our own participants can’t understand our analysis, it’s unethical.

Anyway, for those of you who were underwhelmed with our easy read key facts report and want to sink your teeth into data and findings, with full statistical analysis including exploring correlations between participant demographics and responses - it’ll be out in a few months

But if you’re hoping for something shoved into 4000 words for a paywall journal, you’ll be sadly disappointed again. We have an incredible amount of data breakdown and analysis to present, but my priority is to my readers and women subjected to abuse - not to the industry.

22,419 women took part, and I want them all to be able to read it in depth. I don’t want them to pick up my work, feel utterly defeated and think ‘I’m too thick to read this’ - that’s the worst possible outcome for me. I never want to create work that makes women feel helpless.