Director of Research

William O’Connor is NatCen’s Director of Research and leads a department of over 160 research staff in a rich portfolio of social research. He has worked in research for over eighteen years and, in addition to his time at NatCen, has held posts in academic research and a consultancy specialising in improvement in public service delivery.

During his time at NatCen, William has conducted a broad portfolio of studies for central government, contributing to the research programmes of many government departments across Whitehall. In recent years, he specialised in qualitative research methods and was, until late 2009, Director of NatCen’s Qualitative Research Unit.