Government Social Research
The third work-life balance employer survey: executive summary
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) publish Intergenerational practice literature review - aims to establish what research on intergenerational practice has been carried out since 2002, with a particular focus on the UK, but also drawing on international evidence. The review of the literature will explore:
Intergenerational practice literature review
Scottish Government publish:
Dealing with child contact issues: a literature review of mechanisms in different jurisdictions - reviews the situation in Australia, Canada, United States, Sweden, New Zealand, France, Denmark, England and Wales to highlight the need for practical measures to address the failure to maintain contact between parents and children, by a sizeable minority of non-resident parents who lose contact altogether.
Dealing with child contact issues: a literature review of mechanisms in different jurisdictions
Attitudes and knowledge about family obligations in Scotland: after separation and death (Civil Justice Research Findings No.4/2007) - presents analysis of two surveys commissioned in 2005 on family and sexual attitudes and attitudes towards rules of succession. They provide up to date evidence of public opinion about the obligations and rights of partners when their relationships end either by separation or the death of a partner, and across generations when a parent or partner dies. One of the key findings was that there is very strong support for unmarried fathers having the same parental responsibilities and rights as married fathers.
Wales: moving towards the learning country - the 2007 result for Wales of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) annual survey of adult participation in learning across the UK. It includes findings on participation in learning, future intentions to learn, motivation, benefits and barriers to learning.
Wales: moving towards the learning country
Joint working for inclusion in housing - aims to learn from current thinking and examples of good practice in joint working in Wales and elsewhere in the UK. In particular it looks at the arrangements in Cardiff for joint working to plan for housing inclusion, such as the Common Exclusion Policy and Exclusions Panel.
Joint working for inclusion in housing
Evaluation of the all Wales ante-natal domestic abuse pathway - a legal record of care provision which provides Midwives and Health Visitors with an evidence-based, structured approach to encourage disclosures of domestic abuse and to assess the level of risk faced by the woman and unborn child.
Evaluation of the all Wales ante-natal domestic abuse pathway
Fuel poverty in Wales, 2004 - results of the fuel poverty statistics calculated for Wales using the 2004 Living in Wales survey.
Social enterprise and the cultural industries - summarises the findings of a research project carried out between July 2006 and April 2007
Social enterprise and the cultural industries
Evaluation of the processes used to develop national planning policy in Wales - also makes specific recommendations for improvement, together with an assessment of how policy should be presented.
Evaluation of the processes used to develop national planning policy in Wales
Political devolution, regional governance and tackling deprivation - assesses the impact of new and emerging governance structures on the economic and employment needs of deprived places in four English regions, Scotland and Wales.
Political devolution, regional governance and tackling deprivation
Attachment to place, social networks, mobility and prospects of young people - how young people's attitudes towards education, training and work opportunities are shaped by their social networks and attachment to place . Looks at how widening horizons might improve prospects.
Attachment to place, social networks, mobility and prospects of young people
The Food Standards Agency announces that it is looking to appoint a Chair and up to ten members of a new, independent Social Science Research Committee
Deadline for applications is 7 December 2007
Social Science Research Committee
ONS is carrying out a nine month consultation on their four year work programme of which this is the second phase. Interested parties are invited to respond using the template provided in Annex A of the consultation document.
Deadline for responses: 30 November 2007
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Statistical Work Programme 2008 - 12 - phase 2
Statistics Canada publish Young people's access to home ownership - uses data from the 2006 General Social Survey on family transitions to determine the extent to which young adults succeed in making the desire for home ownership a reality. What are the characteristics of those young people who own their home, and what are the obstacles to home ownership? This article identifies the different factors associated with home ownership among young people aged 25 to 39 who no longer live with their parents.
Young people's access to home ownership
The Guardian publishes Don't let the truth get in the way of a bad crime story - article by Polly Toynbee on negative media reporting of recent Home Office crime statistics "...theft is down, so is violence. But sensation-seeking media fuel fear and distort priorities".
Don't let the truth get in the way of a bad crime story
Policy Press publish Community health and wellbeing: action research on health inequalities - this book is the further outcome of the SHARP (Sustainable Health Action Research Programme) initiative, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to explore the potential of action research as an approach to addressing health inequalities.
Community health and wellbeing: action research on health inequalities
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) publish Disengagement and re-engagement of young people in learning at Key Stage 3 - small-scale scoping study designed to promote evidence-informed approaches to engaging and re-engaging young people in learning at Key Stage 3. Seeks to:
Disengagement and re-engagement of young people in learning at Key Stage 3
The Ministry of Justice publish Predicting and understanding risk of re-offending:
the prisoner cohort study - evaluates the predictive accuracy of a range
of currently available risk assessment instruments for future violent and
sexual re-offending. It focuses on male offenders and violent re-offending.
Predicting
and understanding risk of re-offending: the prisoner cohort study
What policy makers would like to measure is often not the same as researchers are able to measure, given the limitations on appropriate data and available information. This is driven primarily by a lack of clarity about an appropriate definition of recidivism and clear articulation of research methodologies. This report examines ways of measuring recidivism and evaluating its impact.
Recidivism in Australia : findings and future research
Policy Press publish Making policy in theory and practice, edited by Hugh Bochel and Sue Duncan. It combines academic and practitioner perspectives to provide critical consideration of contemporary policy-making and highlight examples of good practice at all levels of government.
In nine central chapters - each written by an academic and a policy maker or practitioner author - the book examines the nine competencies of Professional policy making for the twenty-first century [Cabinet Office. Strategic Policy Making Team, 1999]. Accompanying case studies provide lessons or pointers to good practice.
Making policy in theory and practice
Disability and caring among families with children (Research Report No. 460) - uses data from the Families and Children Study to investigate the characteristics of families that include a disabled adult and/or child. Questions posed by this research include, for instance, how do disability and caring responsibilities relate to families' ages, size, ethnic origins and so on? How far does disability cluster together within families, given that worklessness appears often related to ill-health? Having analysed the characteristics of different families, what is the effect of these different elements on employment? Some families appear to remain in paid employment despite having, say, caring responsibilities, whereas other families do not find it possible to combine work with caring - an area sometimes known as 'resilience'. What can we learn from the experiences of the former group?
Disability and caring among families with children (953 KB)
Health, disability, caring and employment (Research Report No. 461) - uses data from the Families and Children Study and the British Household Panel Survey to examine how changes in health status through time are related to a variety of factors including changes in employment, caring, well-being and so on. The aim was to explore the relationships between health, disability, caring and employment in families with children in the context of the agenda to reduce child poverty, reduce worklessness within households and promote the employment and wider participation of disabled people.
Health, disability, caring and employment (2.93MB)
The newsletter (three issues per year) provides up to date information about ESRC policies, new research and findings from completed research. Contents include:
Towards a social science of Web 2.0 - conference report
UPTAP - a boost for the social sciences skills base Social Sciences (issue 67)
a group of researchers puts companies making scientific claims on the spot.
the Primary Review publishes Community soundings: report on the Primary Review regional witness sessions - reports on 87 meetings with community representatives, employers, religious leaders, parents, governors, heads, teachers and children in different parts of England. In spite of considerable diversity in the membership and location of these community soundings, there was a striking measure of agreement on the main educational and social issues. No less striking was the fact that although witnesses had much to say that was positive, and the work of primary schools was generally well regarded, there was a pervasive anxiety about specific aspects of recent educational policy, and about the wider world. The report also identifies important questions about current and future educational policy and practice.
Community soundings: report on the Primary Review regional witness sessions
Joseph Rowntree Foundation publish An evaluation of two initiatives to reward young people - examines two pilot schemes in Bradford and York designed to increase young people's self esteem and stimulate a greater appreciation of the positive contribution they can make to their communities. The context for the schemes was one of intergenerational tensions, with residents concerned about anti-social behaviour - either real or perceived. This report:
An evaluation of two initiatives to reward young people
DIUS/ESRC announce the first social science project funded by the Large Facilities Capital Fund- £15.5 million funding for the world's largest longitudinal study of households.
UK Household Longitudinal Study - DIUS/ESRC announcement
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published Youth poverty in Europe - examines poverty among young people aged 16 to 29, across 13 countries of the pre-enlargement European Union. It charts how poverty rates vary between countries, looks at the factors associated with being poor and examines the events that are linked with moving in and out of poverty.
Victim Support publish Hoodie or goodie? The link between violent victimisation and offending in young people: a research report - carrieed out by BMRB Social Research. It included a review of previous research into violence among young people followed by interviews and workshops with young people aged from 14 to 18 and with adults who work with them. The researchers looked for common factors or differences between different groups of young people who had carried out violence, been a victim, or both. They also examined whether or not there were consistent ways in which victims turned into offenders and vice versa.
The reports find that changes in the benefit regime for lone parents will have a significant impact on the number who chose to take up jobs and could help reduce child poverty.
Lone parents working under 16 hours a week ('mini-jobs') - analyses the incentives for lone parents to work in mini jobs and compares these to those for mothers in couples.
The impact of tax credits on mothers' employment - assesses whether the credits act as an incentive for mothers to reduce their working hours and review the policy implications of their findings.
Lone parents working under 16 hours a week ('mini-jobs')
The impact of tax credits on mothers' employment
Article in The Scientist, "The future of public engagement", says that the facts never speak for themselves, which is why scientists need to "frame" their messages to the public. Arguments in favor of the popular science model cut against more than 60 years of research in the social sciences, a body of work that suggests citizens prefer to rely on their social values to pick and choose information sources that confirm what they already believe, often making up their minds about a topic in the absence of knowledge.
The future of public engagement