How government utilises social science research Jane Tinkler LSE Public Policy Group 26 SEP Universities Matter: How Academic Social Science Contributes to Public Policy Impact Bastow, Dunleavy and Tinkler 2013
May 13, 2015
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.