Government Social Research
Cathays Park Building
The Welsh Assembly Government is the devolved government for Wales. Its aim is to develop and implement a range of policies that reflect the particular needs of the people of Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Wales, including the economy, health, education, and local government.
Welsh Assembly Government social researchers are mainly co-located with officials in policy departments. This ensures researchers have a good grasp of the analytical needs of policy colleagues and are involved at an early stage of policy development.
The Office of the Chief Social Research Officer (OCSRO) is a central unit that manages a programme of cross cutting and corporate research and ensures high professional social research standards are maintained across the Welsh Assembly Government. Angela Evans, the Chief Social Research Officer, is head of profession for around 40 social researchers working across the Welsh Assembly Government.
The role of social research at the Welsh Assembly Government is to provide high quality research-based evidence and advice for Ministers and policy officials to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of policy. Social research is used in a variety of ways. These include the monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes, pilot studies, assessments of needs and trends and general information-gathering exercises which help appraise and develop policy proposals. Social researchers work closely with economists and statisticians to promote and support evidence-informed policy-making in the Assembly Government.
Welsh Assembly Government social researchers support the development and implementation of policy. Specifically, researchers: