Government Social Research
Social Research Association publish SRA news February 2007 (PDF)
Contents include:
Carole Willis: an appreciation, by Judith Sidaway is published in SRA news, February 2007, page 8 (PDF)
ESRC publish Gender Equality Network Newsletter (PDF)
Contents include:
To find out more about GeNet or to join the mailing list visit the GeNet website.
ESRC publish February edition of Social Sciences
Contents include:
27 February 2007 European
Research Council (ERC) was formally launched at a conference in Berlin,
creating the first pan-European funding agency which can award grants for
basic research, based solely on peer review. The ERC is part of the EC's
"Seventh
Research Framework Programme"(FP7).
Initially, the ERC will be responsible for only around 15% of EC science
funding, and EC funding accounts for only about 5% of the total budget of
all the national science funding programs of EU member states.
26 February 2007 - Department for Transport publish:
22 February 2007 - Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publish Implementation and first year impacts of the UK Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration.
22 February 2007 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update
As US state and federal governments increase their efforts to give Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities greater control over the setting in which they live, a new special issue of Health Services Research (HSR) provides strong evidence that it also makes sense to give them greater control over the personal care and other community-based services that they need to remain in the community. The study shows that beneficiaries can manage their care in a fashion that greatly increases their satisfaction with life, preserves their safety, and substantially lessens the physical, emotional, and financial burdens on their caregivers. The issue includes articles on the motivation for this innovative program, how it was designed and implemented, the evaluation and its findings, and how the findings have changed the way that many states use their Medicaid home care resources.
20 February 2007 - Home Office publish two reports on the Prolific and other Priority Offender (PPO) programme.
The PPO programme, implemented from 6 September 2004, directed resources to a small number of offenders is responsible for a disproportionate amount of all crime. The reports:
The National PPO evaluation: research to inform and guide practice - has a focus on the implementation of the PPO programme, and also provides a number of practical recommendations aimed at improving practice. An impact assessment of the Prolific and other Priority Offender programme - has a specific focus on the impact of the PPO programme on levels of offending
They can be viewed on the Home Office website
13 February 2007 - Home Office publish Community engagement: practical lessons from a pilot project (Development and Practice Report 48 )
What to consider when setting up mechanisms to engage local communities in community safety activities. Covers: the definition of community engagement; clarifying who to engage and why; methods of community engagement; accountability and community engagement; and maximising community involvement.
13 February 2007 - The abuse of research
Article in The Guardian says that the funding and political agendas of think tanks mean their reports need to be treated with care and that the politicization of research can lead to serious distortions in debates on policy issues.
12 February 2007 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update
Contents include:
9 February 2007 - Home Office publish: Predictive factors for illicit drug use among young people: a literature review (Online Report 05/07)
Identifies those factors that are associated with increased risk and those where the link is equivocal. Where the causal nature of these associations has been tested in intervention trials, effects have generally been small. This could be:
The evidence points to associations between a diverse group of risk factors for drug use. These factors include parental discipline, family cohesion, parental monitoring, peer drug use, drug availability, genetic profile, self-esteem, hedonistic attitudes, reasons for drug use, and the ratio of risk/protective factors. There is less consistent evidence linking drug use to mental health, parental substance use, ADHD/stimulant therapy, religious involvement, sport, health educator led interventions, school performance, early onset of substance use, and socioeconomic status.
As has been noted in the context of youth violence, risk factors have differential predictive values throughout adolescence [ref]. Some factors may occur at birth (or before) while others occur at varying times throughout adolescence. Some factors may persist for long periods of time while others are transitory. As already noted different factors are associated with the initiation and continuation of drug use, although this distinction is not always clear in the literature. Risk factors are not discrete entities and their complex interactions are difficult to conceptualise, let alone analyse. The studies reviewed here indicate additive effects of risk factors (although there may also be complex interactions). The distinction between early and late onset risk factors is important as preventive measures need to focus on particular age groups.
This evidence reinforces the need to consider the rapidly changing environment
in which predictive factors operate. It is within this context that
the impact of risk, protection and resilience on drug use among young people
should be analysed and interpreted.
5 February 2007 - Sustainable Development Research network publish emerging methods for sustainability valuation and appraisal
Introduces new deliberative techniques for sustainability valuation and appraisal. It summarises the advantages and disadvantages of each method and their applicability in a UK policy context.
5 February 2007 - Scottish Executive publish Review of Scotland's colleges: accountability and governance
Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) latest news
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies has produced a Guide to Initial Findings for MCS sweep 2 (age 3). Fieldwork for MCS3 (age 5) finished in January 2007. Over 15,200 families took part – almost 9,800 in England, over 2,100 in Wales, over 1,700 in Scotland and over 1,500 in Northern Ireland. Provisional figures suggest that over 90% of families who took part in both the 9 month and Age 3 surveys took part again at Age 5. In addition, about half of families who had been interviewed at the first survey but not at the second took part at age 5. The Centre for Longitudinal Studies held a consultative conference in July 2006 to get input into the MCS4 (age 7) questionnaire. The questionnaire will be piloted in March and July 2007, with main stage fieldwork carried out between November 2007 and December 2008.
5 February 2007 - UK Data Archive publish data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), also known as Next Steps
Commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES, it brings together data from various sources, including annual interviews with young people and their parents and administrative sources.
The study aims to identify, and enable analysis and understanding of, the key factors affecting young people's progress, in transition from the later years of compulsory education, through any subsequent education or training, to entry into the labour market or other outcomes. Data from the study will be used to monitor the progress of the cohort group, evaluate the success or otherwise of policy aimed at this group and provide an evidence base for further policy development. Sample boosts took place for deprivation factors and for the six major BEM groups.