Government Social Research
25 September 2006 - Department of Finance Canada news release "Canada’s new government cuts wasteful programs, refocuses spending on priorities, achieves major debt reduction as promised"
A detailed breakdown of the spending cuts is on the Treasury Board Secretariat website. 2-year Program Savings Identified include:
25 September 2006 - Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) publish Does changing attitudes, norms or self-efficacy change intentions and behaviour?
20 September 2006 - Mathematica publish semimonthly Update.
Contents include:
Key early childhood resources updated; Parental influence on children's occupational choices; Health plan pay-for-performance strategies reviewed; Hospital quality reporting.
20 September - DCLG publish English House Condition Survey - 2004 Annual Report
Provides an account of living conditions in England in 2004 including progress made since 1996 and 2001.
20 September - DCLG publish English House Condition Survey - 2003 Regional Report
Provides information on the conditions of homes and places at a regional level and the differences between those regions.
20 September 2006 - The death of the scientific paper
Article in The Scientist suggests that the scientific manuscript has outlived its usefulness. Genome-scale inquiry and high-throughput experimentation yield enormous data sets, straining the established article framework; meanwhile, isolated findings or negative results are seldom published at all. Click to read more.
12 September 2006 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update
Contents include:
Talent search boosts Financial Aid applications, public college enrollment; Food insecurity, Moms' depression, children's behavior related; Costs to provide health care interpreters
5 September 2006 - University of Queensland Social Policy Unit (SPU) publishes Beyond the work ethic and new principles for welfare
Rob Watts argues that more empirical evidence in the social sciences by itself is not enough. He says that we need good social research to inform and transform the policy context but we also need to bypass certain academic dispositions like our much-vaunted commitment to objectivity and value free research - without giving up on the intellectual values they embody.
5 September 2006 -
Centre
for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University publishes Judgments during information seeking: emerging themes from an exploratory study into the
concept of enough information
This paper by Jennifer Berryman reports on ongoing doctoral research into how, in an information-rich environment, workers assess they have enough information to complete the task at hand. While human information behaviour researchers are beginning to explore the concept of enough information, the subtleties that shape this assessment remain under-researched.
5 September 2006 - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare publish Disability support services 2004-05
Reports on data collected as part of the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement National Minimum Data Set (CSTDA NMDS) between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005. The NMDS provides information on the service outlets funded under the CSTDA and the people who use these services. The report includes a strong focus on data relating to the support needs, informal carers and living arrangements of people who access CSTDA-funded services.
5 September 2006 - Edith Cowan University launch website for In teachers’ hands: effective literacy teaching practices in the early years of schooling.
The project investigated the link between children's growth in English literacy in the early years of schooling and their teachers' classroom teaching practices. The website presents a copy of the report along with video clips of effective early years literacy teaching. The teachers in these clips demonstrate and discuss 33 teaching practices identified through a comprehensive review of research literature.
4 September 2006 - Department for Transport (DfT) publish Transport Technology & Standards 2006/07 Choice & Public Transport Research
Contains information about planned research being undertaken through the Transport Technology and Standards programme.
4 September 2006 -
Statistics
Commission publishes its review of crime statistics Crime statistics: user perspectives (Report no.30)
The report calls for changes in arrangements for crime statistics; it makes a number of recommendations which the Commission will now be pursuing with the Home Office and others. Crime statistics report
The European Socio-economic Classification Development Project
From October 2004 to September 2006, a consortium of universities, research institutes and National Statistics Institutions across Europe conducted a project to develop a prototype European Socio-economic Classification. ONS was project co-ordinator. Click for more details
Acas Research and Evaluation are researching the impacts of the 2003 Sexual Orientation and Religion or Belief employment equality legislation.
The research will explore the views, experiences and characteristics of employees who have applied to bring an employment tribunal case against their employer of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or religion or belief. Furthermore, the research will look at the role of Acas and the experiences of Acas conciliators and Acas helpline staff who have been involved in this area. The findings from this research should be available in Spring 2007. For further details please contact Ben Savage at Acas:
Scottish Executive publish a two year evaluation of Choose life
A 10 year strategy and action plan which aims to reduce the suicide rate in Scotland by 20%. The evaluation shows that Choose Life has been successful in raising awareness among the general public and in involving people from local communities in suicide prevention training. The evaluation recommends focusing more action on high risk groups, including people who are experiencing mental illness, those living in deprived areas and people abusing alcohol or drugs.
Scottish Executive have published the following research
This report by Jeanette Pope provides a theoretical framework for the indicators chosen as a guide for the department - why they were chosen and what they represent. It also reviews the international evidence about the outcomes of networks and participation for communities and summarises what is known from the Victorian findings to date.
Home Office announce a new study to explore better support for policy evaluation
This will examine whether a special unit or other supporting infrastructure
is needed to support policy evaluation. Jointly initiated by ESRC, GSRU,
and SAGEM (the cross-government Strategic Advisory Group on Experimental
Methods, set up by the Home Office) the project will include consideration
of the functions a new structure might have, different ways in which it
could be organised, their relative merits and ballpark costs.
There are many ways in which further support could be organised. Trials
units have been the focus of attention recently. They already exist elsewhere,
for example at the Medical Research Council and York University. But the
focus of this study is on how support for outcome evaluation more generally
could be developed, not simply on supporting Randomised Controlled Trials
(RCTs). The study is aimed at moving the debate forward and helping research
funding bodies decide if more detailed proposals are needed.
The successful contractor will be announced shortly and the study should
report this financial year. For further details contact Robin Elliott-Marshall
at the Home Office on 020 7035 3423.
Welsh Assembly Government: Office of the Chief Social Researcher (OCSRO) is being funded by the Strategic Equalities and Diversity Unit (SEDU) to carry out a review of the equalities evidence base to support the Assembly Government's strategic objectives and statutory obligations
They have just written to a range of external organisations saying that they are looking for a Senior Research Officer to join OCSRO on a 12 month secondment basis to work on the project. The deadline for responses is 18 September and they hope to have someone in post by October. A copy of the letter and the person specification is available from WAG's Chief Social Research Officer - Angela Evans:
Welsh Assembly Government publish Beyond boundaries: citizen-centred local services for Wales (the Beecham Report) which reinforces the importance of evidence based policy making. It is a strategic document which emphasises that a more citizen focussed approach to public service policy and delivery, demands good quality evidence to:-
Deadline for submission 30 September 2006
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