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Research news archive

July 2006

31 July 2006 - Commons Science and Technology Committee (STC) publishes Drug classification: making a hash of it? (HC 1031)

Addresses the relationship between scientific advice and evidence and the classification of illegal drugs.

26 July 2006 - Publication of New Zealand Social Policy Evaluation and Research (SPEaR) Bulletin July 2006

Contents include:

Combined support for research - Eight government agencies have combined to help fund a comprehensive survey of the health and wellbeing of young New Zealanders. The survey of 10,000 secondary school students will explore emerging issues such as gambling and methamphetamine use, examine how school environments influence the wellbeing of students and provide information about health and wellbeing among sub-populations of young people. A pilot will be completed by the end of 2006 and the survey conducted in 2007. The findings will be made public at the end of 2008.

The value of investing in social services - The four-year, $1.6 million research project, being carried out by Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust, will provide policy makers and investors with a system that gauges the potential return on investment, benefits and costs of major infrastructural investments. As well as covering roads, rail, irrigation, telecommunications and processing plants, it will also include social services such as health.

Household crowding and health - study uses Housing New Zealand Corporation data on state house tenants and applicants and matches it with hospitalisation data from the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS).

Research on male- and female-dominated occupations - The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MWA) is compiling information on wages and training costs in a range of occupations that use work-based training to enable young people to make informed choices about careers.

25 July 2006 - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence publish "Interventions to prevent accidental injury to young people aged 15 to 24: evidence briefing summary"

This briefing aims to:

25 July 2006 - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence publish "Transport interventions promoting safe cycling and walking: evidence briefing"

This briefing aims to answer two related research questions:

25 July 2006 - The Australian Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) publish report (Measures of quality and impact in publicly-funded humanities, arts and social sciences research)

On the evaluation process for humanities, arts and social sciences research which claims to have found a fairer and more inclusive way to identify the most important and useful research in Australia.

24 July 2006 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update

Contents include:

24 July 2006 - The Australian National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) publish report (Children at risk of social exclusion: methodology and overview)

On recent work on an area index measuring Australian children who are at risk of being in social exclusion.

17 July 2006 - DWP publish Public attitudes to personal accounts: report of a qualitative study (Research Report No. 370)

Presents findings of a qualitative study carried out among the general public in 2006 to explore views of, and attitudes to, proposals for automatically enrolling people into personal accounts. It involved a series of 22 extended group discussions of two and a half hours in length supplemented by 20 follow-up in-depth interviews with participants not currently saving in a private pension and the self-employed. In addition, eight depth interviews were carried out with carers. The research was carried out on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions by Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute.

13 July 2006 - Scottish Executive publish Determined to Succeed and Young People at Risk of Becoming NEET (Not in` Education, Employment or Training):

February - October 2005: Part of the National Evaluation of Determined to Succeed - Phase 1: - this study aimed to identify the characteristics of effective practice in the delivery of activities engendered by DtS to young people at risk of becoming NEET. The findings showed that DtS had enabled some local authorities to expand or initiate new activities aimed at young people at risk of becoming disaffected. Others were planning to put more emphasis on such provision in the future.

13 July 2006 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update

Contents include:

Mathematica's Long-Term Care Research; Latest in Food Stamp Series Examines 2004 Participation; How Boys and Girls View Information Technology Careers; Methods Update: New Guide Reviews Surveys of People with Disabilities; Child Development - Reading to Children Under Age 3.

10 July 2006 - Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) publish Social Sciences newsletter.-Issue 63 for July 2006

A regular, thrice yearly newsletter which provides up to date information about ESRC policies, new research and findings from completed research.

6 July 2006 - Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA) publishes Sexual violence offenders prevention and intervention approaches .

Male sexual violence against women and children continues to be a significant social problem in Australia. However treatment responses have been restricted by an individualistic focus on offenders and tenuous conditions for successfully prosecuting offenders. This Issues paper on sex offender treatment programs critically examines how theoretical explanations of sexual violence have shaped intervention and community responses.

6 July 2006 - Mathematica publish semi-monthly update

Contents include:

An early look at Medicare Advantage Special Needs plans; Working with disability: first in a new series on Medicaid Buy-In released; Rates of mental health coverage nationally; The quest for better data: presentations at disability statistics conference.

5 July 2006 - Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) publish flagship survey 'Inside the workplace: findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey'.

The survey is jointly sponsored by the DTI, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Policy Studies Institute (PSI). It follows in the acclaimed footsteps of earlier surveys conducted in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998. The purpose of each survey in the series has been to provide large-scale, statistically reliable evidence about a broad range of industrial relations and employment practices across almost every sector of the economy in Great Britain. Also published alongside the main report is an analysis of small and medium sized firms: ' Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey'.

DTI have also published the Executive Summary of the Fair Treatment at Work Survey. This report presents findings from the first large-scale official survey of unfair treatment, perceived discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace. The summary can be found here:

SRA Executive announces Mark Abrams Prize 2006 - deadline for Submission extended to September 2006

Launch of Social Care Research Capacity Consultation - aims is to develop resources and structures for research that is intended to improve social care services, policies and practices.

This is a UK wide consultation and reflecting this, is being carried out on behalf of the following central government stakeholders: Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills in England; Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland; Scottish Executive, through a formal partnership with the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education; Social Services Inspectorate Wales. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) also sponsor the consultation.

Please use the following link to find out more about this exercise and to complete the on line questionnaire:
You can also access a pdf version of the questionnaire and return the completed document by free post to SCIE.

Department for Transport (DfT) in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and possibly other partners (including other Research Councils to be agreed), are considering establishing a new independent Transport Research Centre.

The new Transport Research Centre will act as a multi-disciplinary centre of excellence for independent, high quality, innovative, strategic research, focused on enhancing the evidence base to inform the key transport policy issues facing the UK. As a part of this process a consultation document and accompanying on-line questionnaire has been issued and will be open for comment until 4th August 2006. All comments are welcome.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) publish International review of leave policies and related research 2006

Contains national audits on leave arrangements in 22 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States) including maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave provision and take-up, as well as the impact of leave policies on children and their well-being.

ESRC project `Exploring Online Methods in a Virtual Training Environment completed at University of Leicester

Training portal which aims to enhance understanding of both the theoretical and practical aspects of online research methods including web-based questionnaires and virtual synchronous and asynchronous interviews. It also covers ethical issues of online research and includes good practice case studies.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has published its ‘Delivery Plan’ 2006

Updates its priorities for the next three years. Its sets 7 ‘strategic objectives’ with detailed decisions under each of them: Seizing opportunities in research; Creating opportunities in research; Strengthening capacity - people and disciplines; Providing capacity in data and ensuring methods development; Engagement with stakeholders and the public; International benchmarking of performance; Maximising international presence and opportunities.

Following the earlier Treasury announcement of the planned demise of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) after the 2008 run, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has published a consultation paper

The consultation paper is on proposals for a substitute to inform university research funding. See It offers 5 models largely based on research income and volume. The Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences (ALSISS) is examining whether and how social sciences would be affected under the alternatives.

Scottish Executive's Finance and Central Services Department's Research Programme 2006/07

If you'd like to be kept up-to-date with the programme and Expressions of Interest for new research projects as they are advertised, then send your details to FCSDRESEARCH@SCOTLAND.GSI.GOV.UK and we will put you on the mailing list.

Understanding Population Trends and Processes (UPTAP)

An ESRC-funded initiative designed to: (i) build capacity in secondary data analysis; (ii) promote the use of large-scale social science data sets; and (iii) improve our understanding of demographic trends and processes which affect society and the population.

The ESRC are currently funding 21 projects by young or mid-career researchers working in academic and non-academic organizations around the country. The themes and projects are listed in the attached document