Government Social Research
Welcome to the April GSR bulletin
Please use the links below to navigate to sections of interest to you.
Visit the New Research page for more recent items.
Fast Stream launched for Government Social Researchers - Government Social Researchers from all over the UK gathered at HM Treasury, Whitehall, in early April for the official launch of the Government Social Research (GSR) In-Service Fast Stream. This is currently available only to GSR members and applications are now invited.
New Recruitment Protocol for Government Social Research - will provide Departments with the tools and information they need to assess candidates for recruitment and promotion more fairly and efficiently, and thus facilitate better selection decisions.
GSRweb usage continues upwards, with record numbers of Visits and Page impressions in March.
Key usage statistics for March 2006 (figures in brackets for March 2005)
Thank you for contributing to this ongoing success.
Tina Golton appointed as new Head of Research at Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). Tina worked previously in ODPM and has extensive experience as a social researcher in government, working on housing,urban regeneration and construction. More recently,she has been involved in futures and horizon-scanning research supporting an analytical change programme and managing an £11.5m p.a. research programme. In her spare time she is a volunteer youth worker in her home town of Herne Bay, Kent.
Mary Hickman (HMRC) on climbing the world's highest free-standing mountain - mad or intrepid?
The March edition of Social Sciences, the regular newsletter of the ESRC which provides up-to-date information about ESRC policies, new research and findings from completed research, includes a feature on "A day in the life of Dr Philip Davies", from GSRU
GSR Objective Assessment training courses - essential for those involved in recruiting to, and promoting staff within, the Government Social Research service. You will gain an overview of how objective assessment is used for selection and promotion and how it applies to the GSR Recruitment Protocol.
GSRU and the Institute of Education have announced details
of the 2006/2007 Masters programme for government social researchers in
Policy Analysis and Evaluation. Applications will be accepted from the beginning
of April - to align with performance and development reviews - to 1st September
2006 for entry in October 2006. Click
here for full details and the application form.
The Environment Social Research Team in the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department are embarking on work to explore how the general public perceive and value bodies of water in the environment, to inform the implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive, which applies to all water in the natural environment.
As part of an ongoing investigation by the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology into the knowledge transfer activities of the UK Research Councils, the authors of an internal report gave evidence on 29 March 2006. Richard Brook, director of the Leverhulme Trust, John Murphy from aerospace firm BAE Systems and Barbara Doig, former Chief Researcher in the Scottish Executive, were commissioned by the Research Councils to conduct an "external challenge," and examine how well the eight government-funded councils transfer knowledge to and from business and the wider community. Their report is still in the draft stage, and is not scheduled for publication until late April or May. Under cross-examination by the Select Committee, the authors confirmed that it contains "some fairly strong messages." [The Scientist website]
The US Government Office of Management and Budget has released a set of guidelines for government researchers who commission survey research They will be of interest and relevance to GSR members also.
"How
to communicate science" - article in The Scientist by Susan Lindquist
speaks of taking "great care that the manuscripts we write are accessible
to people, not just to the absolute experts ... Sometimes we spend so much
time on the writing of papers ... that it slows down the dissemination of
our work. But, on the other hand, our papers have had higher impact because
of it ... The general public doesn't appreciate the full breadth and impact
of the kinds of things we are doing. Things that are around the corner will
have a huge impact on people's lives, huge medical benefits, changes in
the way our planet works ... The public needs to be engaged, interested,
and educated ... there's no doubt in my mind that communication is a craft,
not a mystery, that can be improved upon. Different lecture styles can be
successful. Speak directly to your audience, speak to their level, engage
them, do not overwhelm them with details. A good presentation gives the
audience the big picture and a flavor of how scientific inquiry works."
Department for Transport (DfT) publish Consumer behaviour and pricing structures: final report on qualitative research - The research commenced in March 2005 and was undertaken for the Department by a team from the Institute of Transport Studies at Leeds University, BMRB and MVA. This research is part of an ongoing project to improve the assessment of behavioural responses to road pricing schemes. The aims of the qualitative research were to refine understanding of the factors likely to influence behavioural responses and the findings raise a number of issues that need to be considered in designing road pricing schemes. For further information about this research, please contact: Helen.Bullock@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) have published a report (Causes
of Action) which finds that more than half of civil legal problems lead
to adverse outcomes such as ill-health, unemployment and homelessness. The
report highlights how solving civil legal problems can reduce demand on
other public services when problems are addressed early. For more information
and copies of Causes of Action research please contact: Michaela Keating
Tel: 020 7759 0444 Email: michaela.keating@legalservices.gov.uk
Home Office RDS announce publication of the following reports in March
For enquiries about the contents of publications, the research and statistics produced by RDS, or to obtain printed copies (if applicable), please contact public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Evaluation of the Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) Strategy - Learners were very positive about the quality of teaching/learning, with an over 90% satisfaction rate in respect of the learning environment, quality of tuition and social environment. The quality of guidance and support received by learners was weak at entry to and during the learning process. Increased self-confidence was the most likely outcome of ALN learning; this acted as a key to opening up opportunities in learners' personal, family, public, education and working lives.
Employee Survey 05 findings - The Corporate level report and Departmental reports were issued to staff back in January and Office of the Chief Researcher (OCR) conducted a series of follow up focus groups during January and February. There has also been a range of Departmental action planning activities as well as two senior civil service action planning events facilitated by OCR. The Employee Survey 05 was redesigned by OCR to focus on employee engagement. The survey achieved a response rate of 65% which is a significant improvement on previous years.
Determined to succeed (DtS) - The DtS Enterprise in Education strategy aims to prepare young people for the world of work. Findings from the national evaluation of DtS phase 1, focusing on initial planning and early implementation, show that LAs and schools had made considerable efforts to implement the strategy. Almost all LAs had recruited Enterprise Development Officers, implemented communication strategies to inform schools and teachers of the aims and objectives of DtS/EinE and had increased the opportunities for pupils to engage in enterprise activities. Most teachers had received training related to DtS and felt confident to develop their practice.
Aberdeen University publish newsletter of The Bar Workers' Health and Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure (BHETSE) project which began in July 2005 and aims to examine the health of bar workers before and after the implementation of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland in March 2006. Workers in the hospitality sector have particularly high levels of ETS exposure. The introduction of smoke-free legislation in other countries suggests that hospitality workers may quickly experience improvements in respiratory health.
National College for School Leadership (NCSL) Networked Learning Group publish systematic research review "The impact of networking and collaboration: the existing knowledge base" on their website: http://www.ncsl.org.uk/networked/networked-research.cfm
UK
Resource Centre for Women into Science Engineering and Technology (SET)
publish Genders in/of Engineering - The study was conducted by sociologist
Dr Wendy Faulkner of the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Economic
and Social Research Council. It addressed the premise that the retention
and progression of women engineers is impaired not only because of well-rehearsed
structural issues (eg, lack of flexible work practices), but also because
of subtle, 'taken for-granted' gender dynamics. It sought to investigate
these dynamics by using observational methods - job shadowing men and women
engineers in a range of workplaces - as well as interviews. There are three
main conclusions with relevance to efforts to improve the representation
of women to engineering: (i) recruitment efforts need to promote engineering
as a 'broad church' and avoid appealing to gender stereotypes; (ii) there
is room for improved practice in supporting, and so retaining, junior engineers
(male and female) in university and during early years learning on-the-job;
(iii) in various subtle ways, engineering workplaces often operate as 'men's
spaces' in which women are in/visible - concerted efforts are needed to
nurture more 'inclusive' workplace cultures.
Sociological Abstracts (also called Sociofile) - abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioural sciences. Updated monthly; @ 30,000 records added per year; backfiles to 1952; over 680,000 records; thesaurus available. Accessible from GSR desktops in subscribing departments, via CSA Illumina. Ask your departmental library for access details
Visit the Bulletin Archive to view the contents of previous Bulletins. While visiting, see the updated External events page for news of opportunities in 2006.
Be sure to visit the Vacancies pages for all current job ads.
Wishing you a Happy Easter. Have a good month.
Copy deadline for next bulletin is 9 May 2006.