A report sought to identify the range of policy-testing mechanisms used in government; develop a typology of major trials; identify examples of good practice in different policy areas; describe the benefits and limitations of policy trials; and provide guidance on how to approach trials. It recommended that the full-scale introduction of new policies and delivery mechanisms should, wherever possible, be preceded by closely monitored pilots; advantage should be taken of the small scale and explicitly experimental nature of pilots to encourage innovations in policy that might otherwise be too risky or costly to embark on; pilots should not be undertaken where there was no realistic scope for affecting the nature of the policy concerned; pilots should be preceded by the systematic gathering of evidence from the United Kingdom and abroad; and multiple methods of measurement and assessment including experimental, quasi-experimental and qualitative techniques should all be considered to get a complete picture.
Source: Roger Jowell, Trying It Out: The role of pilots in policy-making - Report of a review of government pilots, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report
Date: 2003-Dec
The Higher Education Funding Council for England announced that, following consultation, the formula for allocating additional resources to the 'very best' research departments would be modified. In 2004-05, as well as the double 5 stars , departments would be included that were rated 5* for the first time in 2001, if they achieved this without a reduction in the number of research active staff submitted. In order to maintain stability between years, no institution would receive less than its allocation for the very best 5* in 2003-04. (In 2003-04 extra resources were distributed to departments showing sustained excellence through a rating of 5* in both the 1996 and 2001 research assessment exercises.)
Source: Press release 23 December 2003, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A paper drew on experience gained in designing the government's 'employment retention and advancement demonstration' to explore the strengths and limitations of social experimentation for policy evaluation and analysis, and to highlight some of the key issues that needed to be considered in designing random allocation experiments. (The ERA demonstration project will test a package of new services and financial incentives that aim to encourage groups on the margins of the labour market to obtain a job, retain work and advance in employment.)
Source: David Greenberg and Stephen Morris, Large Scale Social Experimentation in Britain: What can and cannot be learnt from the Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration?, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Nov
A new research forum was established, designed to 'strengthen the dialogue' between ministers and the higher education sector on research issues.
Source: Press release 24 November 2003, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A report detailed local government s statutory responsibility for undertaking research. Based on an analysis of approximately 150 Acts of Parliament, the report provided a comprehensive checklist of legislative requirements for research, ranging across all local government services.
Source: William Solesbury and Lesley Grayson, Statutory Requirements for Research: Review of responsibilities for English and Welsh local government, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
Research showed that government proposals to further concentrate university research funding would have serious consequences for the future of the research base. There was evidence that the proposals would seriously exacerbate existing regional differences in research capacity and performance, with some regions potentially losing important areas of research and suffering in terms of performance.
Source: Funding Research Diversity: Impact of research concentration on university research performance and regional research capacity, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: Summary (pdf) | UUK press release | NATFHE press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The funding body for higher education published a preliminary summary of responses to a consultation paper on the future of the research assessment exercise. Respondents broadly agreed that research assessment should be conducted through a process of expert review, based on judgements of research quality and supported by quantitative data; that ratings should be expressed as starred quality profiles against a continuously graded rating scale; that panels should develop assessment criteria capable of identifying excellence across the full range of work to be assessed including applied and practice based research, emerging disciplines and interdisciplinary research; and that there should be a six-year assessment cycle. The aim to make the assessment burden proportionate to the likely rewards was supported, but the proposed three-track assessment process was considered by some to be unduly complex and burdensome.
Source: Press release 21 October 2003, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: HEFCE press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A report examined ways in which research evidence could have a greater impact on the policy-making process, the organisation of service delivery, and patterns of professional practice.
Source: Sandra Nutley, Huw Davies and Isabel Walter, Conceptual Synthesis 2: Learning from Knowledge Management, Research Unit for Research Utilisation/University of St Andrews (01334 462878)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
The funding body for higher education in England began consultation on its method for allocating research funds. It said the review was designed to reward world-class research in higher education and encourage effective collaboration, while ensuring the financial sustainability of research activity
Source: Review of Research Funding Method: Consultation, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary | HEFCE press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A report set out a framework for appraising the outputs of qualitative evaluations, focusing on four methods: in-depth interviews, focus groups, observation and documentary analysis.
Source: Liz Spencer, Jane Ritchie, Jane Lewis and Lucy Dillon, Quality in Qualitative Evaluation: Framework for assessing research evidence, Government Chief Social Researcher s Office Occasional Paper 2, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Framework (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Aug
The Department for Work and Pension published (for consultation) the first documented ethical and legal guidance for its researchers to work to.
Source: Jo Bacon and Karl Olsen, Doing the Right Thing: Outlining the DWP's approach to ethical and legal issues in social research, Working Paper 11, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A new email discussion list on child poverty was launched at the Social Policy Association annual conference. It is an open list aimed at policy analysts and researchers, academics, policy makers in local, devolved or central government, voluntary sector workers, practitioners and campaigners.
Source: JISCmail webpage, c/o Sharon Wright/University of Stirling (sharon.wright@stir.ac.uk)
Links: JISCmail page
Date: 2003-Jul
A study examined the role of local education authorities in helping to disseminate the results of research on good practice in education. It said that schools and teachers who used research gained 'new challenges, insights and levels of understanding' - and found that it enhanced the quality of teaching and learning.
Source: Rebekah Wilson, Jane Hemsley-Brown, Claire Easton and Caroline Sharp, Using Research for School Improvement: the LEA'S role, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A report analysed the relationship between the results of the 2001 research assessment exercise and subsequent decisions relating to the recurrent funding of research in England. It said that research by more than 8,000 academic staff in nearly 500 university departments in England across the spectrum of social science, medicine, science, engineering, technology, arts and humanities was under threat because of the government s funding policy for higher education.
Source: The Risk to Research in Higher Education in England, Association of University Teachers (020 7670 9700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary | AUT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
Eleven learned societies issued a joint statement criticising government plans (in its White Paper on higher education) to transfer funding from departments rated '4' in the research assessment exercise to so-called '6 star' departments in a few institutions.
Source: Statement 19.6.03, Academy of Social Sciences and ten other organisations, available from Royal Geographical Society (020 7591 3008)
Links: Text of statement (pdf) | RGS press release | Universities UK press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A new book examined the problems of working with service users as researchers, and the complex issues of power and empowerment within this type of research.
Source: Shulamit Ramon (ed.), Users Researching Health and Social Care, British Association of Social Workers ((0121 622 3911) with Venture Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A new book argued that economic theories of the family can help guide and structure empirical analyses of demographic and related phenomena, such as labour supply, child support, and returns to education - on the premise that standard analytical methods of microeconomics can help an understanding of resource allocation and the distribution of welfare within the family.
Source: John Ermisch, An Economic Analysis of the Family, Princeton University Press (01243 842165)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A guide gave practical guidance on economic evaluation in the social welfare field, and highlighted the major issues involved.
Source: Sarah Byford, David McDaid and Tom Sefton, Because it s Worth it: Practical guide to conducting economic evaluations in the social welfare field, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 431213)
Links: Guide (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A think-tank paper argued that up to 1 billion per year was being wasted on 'unnecessary bureaucracy' in the research councils - and that the research budget should instead be allocated directly to the universities.
Source: Tim Ambler, Better Science at Less Cost: Reforming the way in which the UK pays for academic research, Adam Smith Institute (020 7222 4995)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A survey confirmed fears of decreased opportunities for research within the library and information sector, following the demise of the Library and Information Commission (the traditional research funder). The research agenda lacked direction, with some 93 different funders mentioned by respondents, but many of these funding only a single piece of research.
Source: Sarah McNicol and Clare Nankivell, The LIS Research Landscape: Review and prognosis, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (020 7255 0500)
Links: Report (pdf) | CILIP press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A review of the university research assessment exercise proposed that there should be a six-year cycle; that the next assessment process should take place in 2007-08; that there should be a clear link between assessment outcomes and funding; and that the 'least research intensive institutions' should be considered separately from the remainder of the higher education sector. The four higher education funding bodies began consultation on the report. A university teaching union said it could split the existing university system and lead to a two-tier sector.
Source: Review of Research Assessment: Report by Sir Gareth Roberts to the UK funding bodies, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317) | Press release 29.5.03, Association of University Teachers (020 7670 9700)
Links: Links to report and summary | HEFCE press release | AUT press release | Universities UK press release | Guardian article
Date: 2003-May
A paper explored the motives of survey respondents for failing to reveal their earnings, using the British Household Panel.
Source: J rg-Peter Schr pler, Respondent Behaviour in Panel Studies - Case study for income-nonresponse by means of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS), Working Paper 2003-09, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
Researchers published a paper providing an overview of the literature on approaches to enhancing research use from the education, healthcare, social care and criminal justice sectors. A second paper developed a taxonomy of interventions used to increase the impact of research.
Source: Isabel Walter, Sandra Nutley and Huw Davies, Research Impact: Cross sector review, Research Unit for Research Utilisation/University of St Andrews (01334 462878) | Isabel Walter, Sandra Nutley and Huw Davies, Developing a Taxonomy of Interventions used to Increase the Impact of Research, Research Unit for Research Utilisation/University of St Andrews
Links: Taxonomy (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
Higher education funding for teaching, research and special initiatives was announced for 2003-04. Social work (but not social policy) departments rated '3A' and '3B' will be eligible to submit research strategies which could release 'capability funding'. ( 20 million is available in a capability fund to support research in 'emerging subject areas' where the research base is not as strong as in more established subjects.)
Source: Recurrent Grants for 2003-04, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Mar
An independent commission called for an increase in the number of highly-trained social scientists, with knowledge especially of quantitative methods; for the most talented researchers to be freed to concentrate on research; and for better public understanding of the importance of social sciences.
Source: Great Expectations: The Social Sciences in Britain, Commission on the Social Sciences, available from Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences (020 7468 2296)
Links: Report (pdf) | ESRC press release
Date: 2003-Mar
Consultation began on the development of threshold standards for research degree programmes, prior to formal consultation in spring 2003.
Source: Improving Standards in Postgraduate Research Degree Programmes: Informal consultation, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Consultation document (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan