Research news archive/

Research news archive: March 2007

30 March 2007 - Home Office (HO) publish A rapid evidence assessment of the impact of mentoring on reoffending: a summary (Online report 11/07) (PDF, 104 Kb)

The results provide some promising evidence on the effectiveness of mentoring on reducing re-offending; however this was largely driven by the studies of lower methodological quality. Mentoring was found to be more effective in smaller scale studies in reducing re-offending when mentors met with their mentee frequently, and had a greater effect the more time was spent during each meeting, as well as when mentoring was combined with other interventions. The vast majority of the studies included in the review were from the U.S. which further limits the generalisability of the findings to this country.

Scottish Executive publish:

Exploring the social impacts of flood risk and flooding in Scotland- particularly identified the extent to which the intangible impacts from flooding impact upon people who have been flooded. These are the 'hard to replace' costs of flooding such as stress, anxiety, loss of personal irreplaceable items and discomfort at living in temporary accommodation. Indeed, the study found that these are greater than the tangible impacts, for example, financial losses and reduction in house value. It is the elderly and most vulnerable that feel intangible impacts to the greatest extent. Vulnerable households on low incomes seemed to have lower social resilience, reporting higher immediate and lasting intangible impacts. The study involved a review of relevant literature, a questionnaire survey, a series of discussion/focus groups, and interviews with key institutional stakeholders (including local authorities, SEPA, and Scottish Water) and explored 'what works' with particular population groups and locations in relation to flood prevention campaigns and flood warning/dissemination systems. A statistical Annex will be published at a later date with the full questionnaire attached. The report makes recommendations.
Valuing the water environment - comprising:

investigated public values assigned to the water environment, to inform implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive (WFD), which applies to all water in the natural environment.

WFD Public Survey Summary Research Findings
WFD Literature Review Summary Research Findings
WFD Qualitative Research Findings

Building a bridge: communicating Europe to its citizens - draws conclusions about the way in which devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament has led to new and different patterns of consultation and engagement with people in Scotland and reflects on how this might contribute to EU efforts to communicate better with citizens on European issues. Draws on 3 evidence papers, prepared by government social researchers in consultation with other analysts working across departments and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), which looked at the existing research evidence base around participation and engagement in politics and policy-making, as well as attitudes toward Europe and the European Union.
Early years and childcare workforce consultation - results from consultation on review of the early years and childcare workforce, announced in 2004, which looked at key issues for the workforce including: the role and responsibilities of staff, workforce planning, qualifications, career pathways and pay and conditions. Findings were broadly positive, including: support for both the proposed roles and responsibilities framework and the proposed single qualifications framework.
Child protection reform programme [CPRP] process review - investigates how the CPRP was planned and implemented; the aims in planning the programme in this particular way; and whether or not the process was successful. Findings include that: the Professional Advisors were key to the effectiveness of the CPRP but their role could be better clarified; the success of the CPRP has been due to the extensive work by all key agencies and that the CPRP has built on sound principles.

29 March 2007 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update

Contents include:

National Emergency Grants: do they increase workforce development capacity?;
Three new What Works Clearinghouse Reviews released;
Prescription drug policy and outcomes studies

27 March 2007 - Legal Services Research Centre publish

A helping hand: the impact of debt advice on people's lives (PDF) - provides clear evidence of the positive impact debt advice can have. It also confirms that debt problems can bring about ill-health, relationship breakdown, loss of employment, as well as a distressing impact on parents' relationships with their children. One of the four studies was a random control trial.
Putting money advice where the need is: evaluating the potential for advice provision in different outreach locations (PDF) - highlights the potential benefits of outreach advice to those who would not normally seek help from mainstream advice services. The locations included prisons, family and children centres, credit unions, housing offices and community centres. Also gives wider insight into the people who use locations such as SureStart centres, community centres and housing offices - of interest to other parts of
the community and bodies that deliver public services.

23 March 2007 - Department for Communities and Local Government publish

Regenerating the English Coalfields - interim evaluation of the coalfield regeneration programmes (PDF)- outlines regeneration policy in the coalfield areas since the late 1990s, assesses the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the coalfield programmes - the National Coalfields Programme run by English Partnerships, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Coalfields Enterprise Fund, explores regeneration progress in the coalfields since the late 1990s, and evaluates the impact of the programmes and remaining problems.
- Regenerating the English Coalfields - summary
The Single Regeneration Budget: [SRB] final evaluation. Suggests that SRB had a significant impact, contributing to improving the well-being of residents across a number of social, economic and physical indicators. The most successful activities were improvements to the physical fabric of the area, improvements to the economic base, building the community and enhancing social cohesion.
- SRB - summary

23 March 2007 - Home Office publish Trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation: a literature review (Online Report 10/07) (PDF)

The report reveals there is very little factual and robust evidence concerning trafficking to the UK for the purposes of labour exploitation for either adults or children. Some areas of knowledge are more extensively addressed than others, for example, victim nationality, employment sectors and the nature of exploitation, but there are still considerable knowledge gaps. The findings are split into two parts, the first on adult victims and the second on children.

22 March 2007 - House of Commons Science and Technology Committee publish Fourth Report: Research Council Institutes

The report concludes that Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) needs to monitor the state of national research facilities and the skills base within the Research Council Institutes (RCI) sector and that it examine mechanisms for identifying and providing guaranteed funding for nationally important datasets and long-term monitoring activities. Also proposes that the OSI should be given formal responsibility for improving dialogue between Government departments and the RCI sector and the Research Councils and for intervening where departments are not fulfilling their responsibilities under Research Council Institute and Public Sector Research Establishment Sustainability Study (RIPSS).

22 March 2007 - Scottish Executive publish Evaluation of Foolsspeed campaign final phase (Transport Research: Research Findings No.3/2007)

Major campaign to reduce inappropriate and excessive speed in an urban setting. Its main element was a series of television advertisements each designed to address a psychological determinant of speeding according to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This report summarises findings from a qualitative evaluation of the final ad, 'Doppelganger' (2004-2005). The evaluation also examined reactions to the campaign as a whole.

22 March 2007 2007 - launch of a new website for the International Longevity Centre - UK www.ilcuk.org.uk

"Think-tank impacting policy on longevity, ageing and population change" [website].

The website has new features including RSS feeds and new search facilities.

22 March 2007 - ESRC publishes findings of "The World Wide Web of science: emerging global sources of expertise

The document finds that key science sites are failing to register in the top 30 Google search results. Anyone using the Web to make their information available must now pay attention not only to the quality of their sites but also how easy they are to find. The Web is far from being a neutral source of information. Search engines such as Google play an increasingly important gate-keeping role that will influence the information that is found. They can shape "winners and losers" by means that are not always apparent and moreover do so in a manner which can vary according to subject matter. The findings of this study will apply much more widely to the uses of the Internet and Web for searching for information on a variety of topics. This will be an issue not just for policymakers, but for educators, organisations involved in science and research communication, regulators responsible for access to the Web, and citizens who are concerned with the diversity and richness of the information world around them. The research findings were arrived at by means of webmetric analysis (crawling the Web and identifying links), validation by experts and focus groups, and interviews with researchers.

21 March 2007 2007 - ESRC launch major research programme, The Non-Governmental Public Action Research Programme (NGPA)

The research programme aims to better understand the impact the activities of non-governmental agencies have on reducing poverty and exclusion, and in bringing about social change.

Academy of Social Sciences: Jo Campling Memorial Prize: deadline 31 July 2007

- to mark the contribution of the late Jo Campling to the furthering of the social sciences, the prize is aimed at capacity building for the social science community through inviting scholars who are still developing their careers to contribute an 8000 word essay on a topic of their choice fitting to the scope of the journal 21st Century Society.

Please visit the informawolrd website for more information about the journal.

Papers should be emailed to acssjournal@ioe.ac.uk by 31 July 2007. Please clearly mark your email ‘submission for the Jo Campling Memorial Prize’.

20 March 2007 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update

Contents include:

The lessons of DirigoChoice for State Health reform;
Annual report on Maryland Health Care expenditures;
Medicare Advantage Update;
Impact on work and family of Special Care for Special Kids;
Working with disability

15 March 2007 - House of Commons Science and Technology Committee publishes Third report: the Cooksey Review (HC 204 Session 2007-08)

Broadly endorses the approach taken by Sir David Cooksey's review (A review of UK health research funding.-HM Treasury, 2006) (PDF). This had recommended specific actions for Government to take, to ensure that publicly funded health research is carried out in the most effective and efficient way, and to facilitate rapid translation of research findings into health and economic benefits.

14 March 2007 - Statistics Commission publish The use made of official statistics (Report number 33) (PDF, 360KB)

9-18 March 2007 - Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science

The festival will celebrate some of the very best British social science research, highlighting the ways in which it makes a difference to our lives.

9 March 2007 - National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) publish Community cohesion for children, young people and their families

Highlights research, best practice, current initiatives and identifies gaps in knowledge. Based on systematic searches of 61 websites, at least 120 website areas, 8 databases, plus requests for information via networks. In total 175 documents, press notices and other pieces of information were consulted. Identifies eight key players which are making contributions to community cohesion at a national level. Also provides examples of local authority initiatives in three key areas: multi-ethnic/multi-faith; asylum seekers/refugees; gypsies and traveller communities.

Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) publish presentations from the ISER workshops on sequence analysis and behaviour coding, held at the University of Essex in February 2007

8 March 2007 - Economic and Social Research Council launch Britain Today: the state of the nation

Showcases the diversity of ESRC-funded research around the state of the nation in 2007. It offers a concise analysis of research and topical issues concerning Britain today.

Contents include:

What makes a good childhood?:
can parents ensure their children enjoy growing up?;
Unequal employment: is disadvantage caused by discrimination?;
Britons' changing identities: changing social attitudes in Britain;
Learning to live: how best to teach essential life skills to the 14-19 age group.

7 March 2007 - ESRC publish Bodies online - information and advice seeking in the health and fitness domain

Bodies online finds that, faced with a minefield of information of variable quality, health consumers subject websites to an initial weeding-out process that will eliminate most NHS and drug company websites from the search within a matter of seconds.

6 March 2007 - Nuffield Foundation launched a new initiative on Administrative Justice - the administrative decisions by public authorities that affect individual citizens and the mechanisms available for the provision of redress.

Acas Research and Evaluation Section publish 2 research papers:

Ref: 01/06 - Service user perceptions of Acas' conciliation in Employment Tribunal cases 2005 [161kb] - presents the key findings of research into service user perceptions of the Acas conciliation service, for Employment Tribunal cases in 2005.
Ref: 03/06 - The experience of ethnic minority workers in the hotel and catering industry: routes to support and advice on Workplace Problems [337kb] - describes the findings of a qualitative research project, funded by the European Social Fund and Acas. Using in-depth interviews with ethnic minority and migrant workers in the hotel and restaurant sector, it provides evidence of the conditions faced by ethnic minority and migrant workers.

1 March 2007 - Mathematica publish semimonthly update

Contents include:

Making health care a reality for low-Income kids and families;
New citizenship requirements cause confusion for children's health programs;
Early Childhood experts presenting at SRCD in March

1 March 2007 - WAG Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO) publish presentations from the 5th event of the Health Challenge Wales: Evidence for Policy seminar series

Government Social Research

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Research news archive: March 2007