Government Social Research
On 14 November 2006, Scottish Executive Social Research in conjunction with the Scottish Executive Geographic Information Service team (SEGIS), held an afternoon seminar on the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Government Social Research.
The demand for the seminar came from two quarters, which were introduced at the seminar’s outset: the launch of a strategy paper called ‘One Scotland One Geography’ and SE Social Research’s commitment to developing professional skills in geospatial analysis to make most effective use of government data.
In November 2005, the ‘One Scotland One Geography’ Strategy was launched, which sets out a proposed approach to the more systemic and effective use of geographic information in the development and delivery of policies and services to the benefit of the people of Scotland. It mirrors a similar strategy paper currently being developed in Whitehall. The strategy recognises that geographic information is fundamentally important to the daily lives of every person and organisation in Scotland - “everyone is always somewhere” the first speaker argued - and is increasingly important to the delivery of better, more efficient, cost effective and responsive public services. All public sector employees in Scotland have a commitment to the strategy which has now become part of the Efficient Government agenda and will be implemented between 2006-11.
Social researchers have a role to play in driving forward the strategy and the presentations that followed provided useful illustrations of how GIS has been applied in social research. The key note presentation, given by Andrew Crooks of University College London, introduced GIS and its various policy applications. These range from identifying clusters of health inequalities to spatial analysis of crime and policing. The presentation demonstrated that one of the main advantages of GIS is its ability to condense vast amounts of data into manageable and accessible information, which enables more efficient use of data sources. It confirmed too that GIS has benefits beyond mapping and spatial analysis. It allows analysis and join-up of data in different ways that conventional social science methods would not allow or would be too time consuming to consider.
Postcard presentations followed, which provided snapshot examples of GIS analysis undertaken by analysts in the Scottish Executive and confirmed these attributes. The postcards covered patient experiences of the Health System, urban/rural classification in the Scottish Household Survey, Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, small area crime data, and the Scottish Executive Travel Survey 2006. The latter postcard, for example, identified the clear visual impact that GIS can have; an impact which is appreciated and easily understood by many policy colleagues.
In a facilitated workshop session, researchers discussed the pros and cons of the method in a social research setting, and while GIS can be criticised for being too deterministic, the groups concluded that GIS could be used to complement other methods, strengthening a combined methods research approach that would deepen understanding of social and spatial phenomena.
The workshop also developed an understanding of the planning required to add a geographical dimension to social research work, and especially the need to draw on the support of specialists. It was reassuring to hear that, with dedicated support from SEGIS in the Scottish Executive, no specific training and only basic GIS skills are required to integrate this useful presentational and analytical tool to our many and varied social research projects.