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How government utilises social science research
Jane TinklerLSE Public Policy Group
26 SEPUniversities Matter: How Academic Social Science Contributes to Public Policy Impact
© Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler 2013
The Impact of the Social Sciences project
• Three year research project looking at how academic research has impacts on government, business and civil society
• The Impact of the Social Sciences blog (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences) shares good practice from the research community on key topics of interest
• All data here taken from a book by Simon Bastow, Patrick Dunleavy and Jane Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage. (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book241492)
Over half of funding for social science research comes from UK government
Source: Adapted from Figure 1.6 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.
19921994
19961998
20002002
20042006
20082010
20120
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
DEFRA
Education
DCLG
DfID
DWP
Expe
nditu
re b
y UK
gov
ernm
ent d
epar
tmen
ts o
n so
cial
scie
nce
rese
arch
from
UK
univ
ersiti
es (£
m
– de
flate
d at
201
2 pr
ices
)
But within individual departments funding trends are generally downwards (with one radical outlier)
Source: Figure 6.11 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.
Usage of academic research varies across Departments, 2008
Innovation, universities & skillsHM Revenue and Customs
Communities and Local Government
Ministry of JusticeBusiness & enterprise
Culture, media and sportHM Treasury
Transport
Environment, food, & rural af-fairs
EducationHealth
International developmentWork and pensions
Home Office
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100110120
Research reports carried out by academic institutionsResearch programmes or major projects led or partnered by academic institution
Research activity score
Source: Figure 6.6 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.
Computer SciencePhilosophy
HistoryEngineering
Comm & media studiesChemistry
PhysicsBusiness and management
LawAnthropology
PsychologySociologyMedicine
Political ScienceSocial policy
GeographyEconomics
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
UK Local or regional government UK Central Government International governmentAverage number of external references found
Core social science disciplines are used most extensively, 2013
Source: Figure 6.7 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.
Daily Few times a week
Few times a month
Few times a year
Never
19 26 27 21 7
How often do you relate social science arguments to the work you do for the US government? (%)
Daily Few times a week
Few times a month
Few times a year
Never
8 19 32 33 7
How often do you use social science evidence in the work you do for the US government? (%)
In US, national security policymakers were asked . . .
Source: Avery and Desch (2011) Policymakers Survey. The Carnie Policy Relevance Project. http://www3.nd.edu/~carnrank/policymakerssurvey.htm.
Percentages Very and somewhat
useful
Not very and not at all
useful
Net score
Area studies 97 3 +95
Contemporary case studies 97 3 +94
Historical case studies 96 4 +92
Policy analysis 93 7 +87
Quantitative analysis 70 30 +40
Operations research 64 36 +28
Theory 55 45 +10
Formal models 40 60 -20
These policymakers saw some types of academic methods as more useful
Source: Avery and Desch (2011) Policymakers Survey. The Carnie Policy Relevance Project. http://www3.nd.edu/~carnrank/policymakerssurvey.htm.
One key problem for the social sciences is the relative lack of ‘mediating middle’ networks and organisation
Source: Figure 2.14 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.
The future is integrated
Source: Figure 1.12 from Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their research make a difference. London: Sage.