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Dr Sam Murphy

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Associate Head of School, Strategic Growth
  • Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies
  • School of Health, Wellbeing & Social Care
  • Health & Social Care
  • sam.murphy

Professional biography

I joined the Open University in June 2010 to work on K260, Death and dying. Up until then I had been a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Westminster.

Since joining the OU I have worked on modules at all levels of the undergraduate programme in Health and Social Care as well as our Masters in Advancing Healthcare Practice.I have been academic adviser on several co-productions (with both theBBC and Channel 4) including the BAFTA-nominated documentary How to Die: Simon's Choice.

I have held several leadership roles in the Open University including Assistant Head of the Department of Health and Social Care, Associate Head of School for Health and Social Care and AL Contract Implementation Lead. Since August 2024I have been Associate Head of School for Strategic Growth in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care.

My specific interest in the area of death and dying is pregnancy loss and my ESRC-funded doctoral research, undertaken at the University of Surrey, was a sociological exploration of parental experiences of stillbirth. I am also interested in the Sociology of Human Reproduction and convened the BSA Human Reproduction Study Group for 5 years.

Research interests

All forms of reproductive loss, bereavement and pregnancy

Teaching interests

Death and dying, sociology of health and illness, communication.

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
Birth & Death Research GroupGroupFaculty of Health and Social Care

 

Externally funded projects

Willen Hospice PhD co-funding for issues related to the end of life in MK
RoleStart dateEnd dateFunding source
Lead01 Oct 201630 Sep 2019Willen Hospice

What is the role of the environment and culture of the hospice in MK that means that people choose this over dying at home?

Publications

(2023)
Mitchell, Vince; Borgstrom, Erica; Murphy, Sam; Campbell, Charlene; Sieminski, Sandy and Fraser, Sandy
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49(2) (pp. 190-202)

(2023)
Murphy, Sam
Bereavement: Journal of Grief and Responses to Death, 2

(2021)
Jones, Kerry and Murphy, Sam
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 24(5) (pp. 603-615)

(2021)
Mallon, Sharon; Borgstrom, Erica and Murphy, Sam
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 24(5) (pp. 517-521)

(2019-12)
Jones, Kerry; Robb, Martin; Murphy, Sam and Davies, Alison
Midwifery, 79, Article 102531

(2019)
Murphy, Samantha
Women's Studies International Forum, 74 (pp. 35-41)

(2017-10-02)
Bakhbakhi, Danya; Siassakos, Dimitrios; Burden, Christy; Jones, Ffion; Yoward, Freya; Redshaw, Maggie; Murphy, Samantha and Storey, Claire
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 17, Article 333

(2017-06-30)
Murphy, Samantha and Cacciatore, Joanne
Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, 22(3) (pp. 129-134)

(2016-06-03)
Sieminski, Sandy; Messenger, Julie and Murphy, Sam
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 31(2) (pp. 141-151)

(2015-09)
Newton, Victoria Louise and Murphy, Sam
JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, 13(9) (pp. 159-167)

(2014-09-30)
Murphy, Sam and Jones, Kerry
Human Fertility, 17(3) (pp. 210-213)

(2013-02-28)
Murphy, Sam and Thomas, Hilary
Sociological Research Online, 18(1)

(2013-01)
Murphy, Samantha Louise
Bereavement Care, 31(3) (pp. 98-103)

(2012)
Murphy, Samantha
Midwifery, 28(4) (pp. 476-480)

(2010-06-26)
Murphy, S. L.
ISBN : 9783838345840 | Publisher : Lambert Academic Press | Published : Saarbrücken, Germany

(2025)
Mallon, Sharon; Borgstrom, Erica and Murphy, Sam
In: Liamputtong, Pranee ed. Handbook of Sensitive Research in the Social Sciences (pp. 55-63)
ISBN : 9781035315222 | Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing Limited | Published : Cheltenham, UK

(2024)
Murphy, Sam
In: Jones, Kerry and Robb, Martin eds. Men and Loss. New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity. Routledge Key Themes in Health and Society
ISBN : 9781003333999 | Publisher : Routledge

(2024)
Jones, Kerry; Murphy, Sam and Robb, Martin
In: Jones, Kerry and Robb, Martin eds. Men and Loss. New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity
ISBN : 9781032368238 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

(2022-04-14)
Jones, Kerry and Murphy, Sam
In: Borgstrom, Erica; Mallon, Sharon and Murphy, Sam eds. Unpacking Sensitive Research: Epistemological and Methodological Implications
ISBN : 9781032172200 / 9781003252320 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

(2013-01)
Murphy, Samantha
In: Earle, Sarah; Komaromy, Carol and Layne, Linda eds. Understanding Reproductive Loss: Perspectives on Life, Death and Fertility. (pp. 117-128)
ISBN : 978-1-4094-7241-4 | Publisher : Ashgate | Published : Farnham

(2022-04-14)
Borgstrom, Erica; Mallon, Sharon and Murphy, Sam eds.
ISBN : 9781032172200 / 9781003252320 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

(2015)
Murphy, Sam
In : Death, Dying and Disposal 12 (2-6 Sep 2015, “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, Romania)

(2014)
Murphy, Sam
In : Canadian Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2014 (26-30 May 2014, Brock University, St Catherines, Canada)