Perceptions of How Vaccination Is Promoted in France

Welcome!

My name is Vendula Kolarik Mezeiova. This website presents my doctoral research project, conducted as part of my doctorate at the University of Oxford.

The project explores how childhood vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella is encouraged in France. I am interested in how parents and medical professionals perceive these forms of encouragement in their everyday life.

My study has been reviewed and received a favourable opinion from the Comité d’Évaluation Éthique de l’Inserm (CEEI/IRB00003888, n° 25-1248 dated 10 February 2026), and from the Social Sciences & Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee (SSH IDREC), University of Oxford (no. 1225994).

About me

I am a doctoral researcher at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, working under the supervision of Bettina Lange. My research looks at questions related to society, health, and everyday experiences of public policies and institutions.

During my studies, I have been trained in conducting interviews and in research ethics. I also gained practical experience in empirical research as a research assistant at the University of Vienna, where I took part in conducting interviews. As part of my fieldwork in Paris, I am a visiting researcher at Cermes3 (Centre for Research on Medicine, Science, Health, Mental Health and Society).

Before starting my doctoral research, I worked for five years in public institutions. I studied law and health policy at Charles University in Prague, the University of Bristol and Cardiff University. I communicate in French, English, and Czech.

Contact

If you are interested in participating in my research project or have a question about my research project, please use the form below or contact me by email.

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About the project

What is this project about?

This project looks at how vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is encouraged in France.

I am interested in how different approaches to MMR vaccination are understood and experienced in everyday life. This includes for example:

the legal requirement to vaccinate children (in force since 2018), and
other ways of encouraging childhood MMR vaccination, such as reminders, information, or campaigns.

The aim of the project is not to evaluate vaccination itself, but to better understand how parents and medical professionals feel about these different approaches and how they make sense of them in their own words and life experiences.

How is the research conducted?

The research is based mainly on interviews and conversations with participants.

It also includes the analysis of public documents related to vaccination policy in France, to better understand how these questions have been discussed in public.

Who can take part in the project?

I would be very grateful for the opportunity to speak with:

parents of children born in 2014 and after
medical professionals who are involved in vaccinating children (MMR)

I welcome participants from the Île-de-France region, from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

What will we talk about in the interviews?

The interview will be a conversation about participants' experiences and views.

For example, we may talk about:

how participants see vaccination in general
how participants experience recommendations or requirements related to vaccination
how participants feel about different ways of encouraging vaccination
whether some approaches feel helpful, appropriate, unclear, or uncomfortable
what matters to participants when thinking about these questions

There are no right or wrong answers. I am interested in hearing participants' perspectives and experiences. Each interview lasts around 60 minutes.

Ethics

Taking part in this research is entirely voluntary. All information shared by participants will be treated confidentially, for example by anonymising the data, and handled with care. Personal data will be protected.

Participants are free to stop the interview at any time, without having to justify themselves. They can also choose not to answer any question. If they change their mind after the interview, they can withdraw their consent within one month. In that case, the information shared will not be used in the research.

Short summaries of the findings will be available on this website from November 2026 (see the Findings page). If participants wish, they are very welcome to share any follow-up thoughts or feedback using the contact form or by email.

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Comité d’Évaluation Éthique de l’Inserm (CEEI/IRB00003888, n° 25-1248 dated 10 February 2026), and by the Social Sciences & Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee (SSH IDREC), University of Oxford (no. 1225994). If participants have any concerns, they may contact these committees.

This research is funded by the SLSA Fieldwork Grant, and by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, at the University of Oxford.

Findings

For participants

If you have taken part in this project, you will be able to find short summaries of the findings on this page from November 2026. All data will be anonymised.

If you would like to share any follow-up thoughts or feedback about your participation, please feel free to use the contact form. You are also very welcome to get in touch if you have any further questions.

Project updates and activities

I will use this page to share updates about public activities related to the project, such as information about where the research is being presented, discussed or published. I expect to begin adding these updates from autumn 2026.