Government Social Research
Welcome to the latest GSR bulletin.
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Appointment of Chief Executive of NISRA - Following a recent open competition, the Department of Finance and Personnel has announced the appointment of Dr Norman Caven as Registrar General for Northern Ireland and Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).
Phil Davies to edit Australian Journal - Dr Phil Davies of the Government Social Research Unit is to be guest editor of a special edition of 'Public Health Bulletin', a major Australian journal committed to promoting evidence-based public health policy.
Wales appoints research chief - Angela Evans has been appointed as the Welsh Assembly Government’s first ever Chief Social Research Officer. She will lead the Office of the Chief Social Research Officer and act as Head of Profession for research and evaluation staff across the Assembly Government.
GSRU do Groundforce - On 6 December the Government Social Research Unit departed for the Treehouse School in East Finchley to improve the grounds of their temporary school. The trip was the GSRU contribution to the Year of the Volunteer 2005. Treehouse is a registered UK charity aiming to provide an educational centre of excellence for children with autism and related communication disorders. The school currently provides an education for 40 children aged 3 - 12, with plans to extend its base to 80 pupils aged 3 - 19 over the next 10 years.
GSR Recruitment Protocol is launched - the Protocol covers all aspects of assessment for all grades of staff below the Senior Civil Service in GSR. The aim is to provide GSR recruiters with the tools and principles of best practice assessment so that they can put together a selection process which will enhance their ability to identify the most suitable social researchers from the field of applicants.
It has been developed in response to demand from government departments and devolved administrations and is based on the GSR Competency Framework which was launched earlier this year. GSRU are providing training courses for potential assessors in GSR on how to use the protocol.
GSR Conference 2005 - report by Lyndsey Williams - Defra and Jude Heller - HMRC - this year's conference, extremely well co-ordinated by members of the Home Office and HMRC, brought together over 200 GSR members from across the UK. We had the luxury of a central London location offering a pleasant environment and inspiring views of the Thames (especially from heady heights of the syndicate rooms) which made the long wait for the lifts worth while.
National Centre for Social Research publish British Social Attitudes 2005 [NatCen website] which examines public attitudes towards the key issues that have dominated the political arena since New Labour arrived in office in 1997. In particular, it asks how far the government's policies on health, education, pensions, transport, work-life balance, redistribution, housing, and Europe, are in tune with public opinion.
National studies programme 2006-07 consultation - the Audit Commission is asking local public bodies and national stakeholders for their views. The consultation paper contains a long list of possible ideas for studies that the Commission could address. Views on which topics are a priority are welcome as it is anticipated that fewer than half of the topics listed will finally go forward into the 2006/07 programme.
Public Attitudes to Climate Change and Transport - Request for Research. The Department for Transport has commissioned an evidence-based review Jillian Anable (UKERC Transport and Aviation Topic Leader, The Centre for Transport Policy), Dr Ben Lane (Ecolane Transport Consultancy) and Dr Tanika Kelay (Surrey University) will carry out the review and are looking for any existing literature or work in progress to add to the evidence base.
Department of Health (DH) published the results of a consultation (Best research for best health: a new National Health research strategy: the NHS contribution to health research in England: a consultation) (pdf) [DH website]which set out a range of proposals to create a new health research system, in which the NHS supports those engaged in leading-edge research, to focus on the needs of patients and the public. Over 500 responses were received to the consultation, which included 15 questions, as well as offering the opportunity to comment on the proposals more widely. The Department also received a number of responses after the consultation closing date and letters which they were unable to include in the analysis and report. These responses will however be taken into account in finalising the R&D strategy which DH aim to publish in early 2006.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publish The Consistency and Reliability of the Activity History Data in the Families and Children Study (pdf) [DWP website] this report examines the consistency and reliability of the activity history data collected in the Families and Children Study, which collects dynamic information on labour market characteristics for a sizable sample of families, allowing work behaviour over time to be studied more closely both for couple families and for lone parents.
Mathematica semi-monthly update Contents include: Telemedicine and Diabetes: new Congressional Report Details IDEATel Demonstration; A look at children born in 2001: demographics, physical, and mental skills; Collaborations and incentives to improve children's health care.
'The Challenge Ahead' - Welsh Social Research Association event to draw together and present the latest evidence on poverty, deprivation and living conditions in Wales. Chaired by Professor David Adamson (University of Glamorgan), speakers included Steve Marshall from the Statistical Directorate, who discussed work on the Index of Multiple Deprivation; Ed Swires-Hennessey from Data Unit Wales on the Living in Wales Survey; and finally, Peter Kenway from the New Policy Institute, who presented findings from a recent JRF report, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wales.
Mathematica semi-monthly update Contents include: Annual brief on State Food Stamp participation rates; ethics of Federal Social Program evaluation; Lessons from the field: universal engagement in practice; alternative routes to teaching: impacts of Teach For America; who's presenting at the American Public Health Association meetings?
Home Office RDS have posted the following research summaries [Home Office website]
Publication of Mathematica Update [Mathematica website] - semi-monthly update on new publications, presentations, and other developments. Contents include: wide-ranging report to Congress on SCHIP State Children's Health Insurance Program; Journal of Ambulatory Surgery article examines discharge options, costs; Early Head Start: new journal article reviews effectiveness
Social Care Online database - launched in August 2005 as a successor to the Electronic Library for Social Care (eLSC). Content is drawn from many different sources - websites, journal articles, reports, books and other media. Full-text links to results are also provided where the material is freely available online.
Visit the Bulletin Archive to view the contents of previous Bulletins.
The next bulletin will be published in January 2006.
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