Government Social Research
Sue Duncan
Firstly welcome to the first post-Election GSR bulletin. And welcome to our colleagues from the new department: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
In this bulletin, we take the opportunity to inform you about our new Masters degree programme which we have developed specifically for government social researchers in conjunction with the University of London. I am committed to a Government Social Research Service that is well-qualified and respected. It is essential that we all understand current thinking and can use proven techniques. This new qualification will help you to do that, whilst adding to our collective skills base.
Also included in this bulletin is information about a suite of research databases which I believe will help researchers perform more effectively. So I am delighted that after some protracted contract negotiations, we are able to make these available across GSR.
We have been busy in the last couple of months with GSR conferences: the Communication Committee descended on Stratford to discuss improved ways of working. I am pleased that we have agreed new Terms of Reference for Communication Committee reps, and want to emphasise the importance I place on this work. That leads me on to the Heads of Profession (HOPs) conference in Bath on 20-21 April where all HOPs agreed that promoting GSR effectively is crucial and Communication reps have a key role to play. We also discussed the new MSC and Competency Framework - more on that next month.
GSR members should have received information about the next GSR conference from 3-5 October 2005, which I am very grateful to the Home Office and HMRC for organising. I am sure it will be a huge success and we are all looking forward to it. HOPs are coordinating registrations to the conference from their departments.
And finally, some of the more observant of you may have noticed a slight name change to our office. We are now established in the Cabinet Office as a separate unit, so I took the opportunity to simplify our name to the Government Social Research Unit (GSRU), and my title has changed to the Chief Government Social Researcher. Amongst other things, this will help us to position GSR alongside other analysts.
So read on, and if you have any queries or comments, do please contact us.
Government social researchers are invited to register for a new Masters qualification in Policy Analysis and Evaluation run by GSRU, Cabinet Office and the Institute of Education, University of London.
A modular degree to be completed part-time over two years and beginning in October 2005, the MSc offers a unique opportunity to government social researchers looking to enhance their professional skills and career prospects.
The programme - Students will be required to attend six taught modules, undertake related course work assignments, and to submit a 10,000 word dissertation at the end of their second year.
Compulsory modules cover:
Participants also select two optional modules from:
The benefits - Accredited by a leading British university, this Masters degree programme is tailored to the needs of government social researchers looking to increase their professional knowledge. It is approved by GSRU as fit for departmental funding and support, and addresses the future skills needs of GSR. The course is an element of GSR career development and is tied in to the Professional Skills for Government agenda. Unlike many other courses of longer duration, the MSc is part-time over two years, with all modules running during normal working hours.
Further information - A course prospectus will be available in June 2005. To request a prospectus, please email Maria Mistretta at: GSRU.Seminars@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk.
GSRU has successfully negotiated a contract with CSA Illumina for online access to the following key social research databases, available at your desktop for GSR subscribing departments. Search either individual databases or search across all simultaneously.
ASSIA - references for books and journal articles from 1987 on health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. Updated monthly, ASSIA provides a comprehensive source of social science and health information for the practical and academic professional. Contains over 312,000 records from 650 journals in 16 different countries, including the UK and US.
Econlit - references for books and journal articles on economic issues from 1969 onwards.
ERIC - national information system funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide access to education literature and resources.
NCJRS - abstracts 170,000 criminal justice publications, including US Federal, State and Local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, documents and unpublished research on a wide range of criminal and juvenile justice topics.
PAIS - references to international public policy materials, including journal articles, official publications and statistical directories. Contains references to more than 479,000 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more.
Sociological Abstracts - abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioural sciences.
Social Services Abstracts - covers social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database provides abstracts from journals and dissertations, and citations to book reviews, from 1980 and is updated monthly.
Don't forget, since the end of last year access is also available to most GSR staff to:
IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences) - essential online resource for social science and interdisciplinary research.
GSRU is working with the Committee of Departmental Librarians to develop training - ask your Library for details. The GSRU lead is John Scott-Cree, email: john.scott-cree@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
GSR communications research - Over the past few months, GSRU's Correna Callender has visited all 20 GSR departments to discuss internal communication issues. She has focused on:
For further information, email contact: correna.callender@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk .
Committee Conference - GSRU organised a conference for the GSR Communication Committee from 21-22 March in Stratford-upon-Avon. Nineteen delegates came from London, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast to discuss issues of identity, information sharing, events, and recruitment work across GSR. Twenty government departments/devolved administrations are now represented on this committee, whose profile will be raised over the coming months as they become more involved in building the GSR professional identity across government; acting as conduits of information for the GSR website; getting involved in organising GSR events and in promoting GSR as a career. Many of the reps who attended were new to the committee but a good time was had by all. Do you know who your Communication Committee rep is?
GSRweb - Let your Communication Committee rep know if there's something you'd like to contribute to the GSR website - be it a news story, event, article, or general information about your department - or if there's any other information or resources you'd like to see on the site. Work is presently underway to improve the navigation, content and layout of the GSR website...more details next month.
A Civil Service Management Board progress report is expected shortly to help all departments begin the process of implementing Professional Skills for Government (PSG). It is expected to set out high level milestones and actions, and to encourage individuals to start thinking about what PSG means for them.
GSRU has been working for some time on what PSG means for Government Social Research, and we have made considerable progress in dovetailing the new GSR competency framework with the PSG skills framework. We expect to have completed this work by the end of May and will be launching the GSR competency framework thereafter.
If you have any specific questions in the meantime, please email contact rebecca.laffineur@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk .
To view current available posts go to the GSR website vacancies page. [PLEASE NOTE: some vacancies are only open to existing social researchers in government (and sometimes other professional analysts in government eg. statisticians, operational researchers and economists). The details of these vacancies are only available to view if you have access to the GSI because only existing civil servants are eligible to apply.]
We aim to place all Government Social Research vacancies on the website. If you have a GSR vacancy in your department, please send details by email to gsr-web@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk . For more information about advertising vacancies on the GSR website please telephone Jennifer Watson in GSRU on 020 7276 1863.