Dimensions of Impact in the Social Sciences

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Haux
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Impact Pathways ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Models ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Research And Policy

Academics are increasingly required to demonstrate their impact on the wider world. The aim of this book is to compare and contextualise the dimensions of impact within the social sciences. Unlike most other studies of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework impact case studies, this book includes case studies from three different sub-panels (Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work and Politics and International Relations), which in themselves capture several disciplines, and therefore allows for a comparison of how impact and academic identify are defined and presented. The impact case studies are placed in an analytical framework that identifies different types of impact and impact pathways and places them in the context of policy models. Finally, it provides a comparison across time based on interviews with Social Policy professors who are looking back over 40 years of being involved as well as analysing the relationship between research and policy-making. This long view highlights successes but also the serendipitous and superficial nature of impact across time.

scholarly journals We Need to Talk about Impact: Why Social Policy Academics need to Engage with the UK's Research Impact Agenda

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE E. SMITH ◽  
ELLEN STEWART
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Policy Relevance ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

AbstractOf all the social sciences, social policy is one of the most obviously policy-orientated. One might, therefore, expect a research and funding agenda which prioritises and rewards policy relevance to garner an enthusiastic response among social policy scholars. Yet, the social policy response to the way in which major funders and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are now prioritising ‘impact’ has been remarkably muted. Elsewhere in the social sciences, ‘research impact’ is being widely debated and a wealth of concerns about the way in which this agenda is being pursued are being articulated. Here, we argue there is an urgent need for social policy academics to join this debate. First, we employ interviews with academics involved in health inequalities research, undertaken between 2004 and 2015, to explore perceptions, and experiences, of the ‘impact agenda’ (an analysis which is informed by a review of guidelines for assessing ‘impact’ and relevant academic literature). Next, we analyse high- and low-scoring REF2014 impact case studies to assess whether these concerns appear justified. We conclude by outlining how social policy expertise might usefully contribute to efforts to encourage, measure and reward research ‘impact’.

scholarly journals Researching the Dynamics of National Social Policy in a Globalized Society. A Proposal for a De-Nationalized Analytical Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Erica Righard
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social

Abstract Epistemological hierarchies in the social sciences stipulate that sedentarism is naturalised as a normality, and that mobility is viewed as a deviation. This article sets out to propose an analytical framework that takes the analysis beyond this kind of nationalized knowledge production, and to empirically show the gains of de-nationalized frameworks for analysis of social protection and dynamics of in-/equality in the globalised society. I will do this relying on the empirical example of the public old-age pension scheme in Sweden.

scholarly journals Some questions on the relationship between theory and research in the application of method of observation

Sociologija ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Ilic
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Complete Separation ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Procedure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The article discusses the gradual abandonment of the efforts to verify hypotheses and complex theoretical assumptions in the social sciences by observation. The first section shows the classical understanding that emphasized the importance of the theoretically directed observation. The second section shows the efforts towards inclusion of the observed in the interpretation of observations. The third section contains an analysis of the impact of today?s strict division on the qualitative and quantitative methodology. This influence can be seen in a complete separation of the structured observation and participatory observation, the disintegration of observation as a research procedure, its replacement by ethnography and case study method, as well as abandoning more general theoretical ambition within qualitative methodology. The fourth section analyzes the epistemological consequences of efforts to understand the fieldwork primarily as a power relationship and to transform the observed into the subjects of research. Development of the attitudes on the relationship between theory and research in the application of methods of observation in social sciences is associated with theoretical eclecticism in the field of contemporary sociological theory and distancing from philosophy of science with its understanding of the role of research programs and research traditions in the field of growth of scientific knowledge.

scholarly journals Regional Features of the Attitude of Adolescents to Health and the Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 88-104
Author(s):  
Irina Zhuravleva ◽  
Nina Lakomova
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Adolescent Health ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Attitude To Health ◽  
Regional Features ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Behavior Types ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The article is devoted to adolescent health as an important potential of the country’s labor and population resources. The negative trends characterising the health of this age group in recent decades require the adoption of immediate and radical measures in the field of social policy. Based on the results of the study “Adolescent Health and the Environment” (2017), analysis of statistics, various documents and publications, an attempt was made to find out the nature of changes in the attitude of adolescents to their health and the environment under the influence of social policy measures. This approach examines the relationship between sociological indicators of adolescent attitude to health (self-esteem, motives and health factors, the presence of bad habits, attitude to the environment) and the impact of means and methods of social policy of various kinds. Advocacy of a healthy lifestyle forms attitudes towards a positive attitude to health and reliance on one’s own efforts to achieve it. A lack of attention to environmental issues at the regional level leads to a decrease in environmental concerns among these issues among young people. These processes can be traced by comparing the responses of the respondents of two cities (Ulan-Ude and Ulyanovsk) with significant differences, and by analysing the content components of the social policies of these regions. The conclusion is drawn about the effectiveness of the measures that form the specific behavior types of adolescents in the field of health.

Impact of Workplace Bullying on Job Performance and Job Stress

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faran Robert
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Job Stress ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Workplace Bullying ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private Banks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Bullying at workplace is a very serious issue and can be found in every other organization. The actions of bullying could be very obvious or discreet and the people who are victimized by workplace bullying can strike them in numerous ways. This research is focused on the impact of workplace bullying on job performance and job stress. A total of 250 employees of 6 private banks of Lahore, Pakistan took part in this study and facts were examined through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The results clearly depict the significant relationship between workplace bullying and job stress, while the relationship between the workplace bulling and job performance is subtle. Furthermore, this research paper also provides the findings, conclusion and recommendations for future researchers.

Policy Studies and Social Policy in Britain

1979 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-334
Author(s):  
Stuart S. Blume
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Policy Planning ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTThe recent debate about the establishment of a ‘British Brookings’ involved a number of fundamental issues which were not brought out. In fact the idea that the British policy-making process should be made more ‘rational’ through the development of what are sometimes called policy studies is not new. It has roots in the Heyworth Report on social studies, which recommended greater use of social research in policy-making, and in the Fulton Report on the civil service, which argued for more policy-planning. These two approaches may now be seen as basically the same, and the problem as one of changing the relationship between social science and (social) policy. However, past analyses of this relationship attribute difficulties to quite different causes and hence yield a variety of prescriptions for reform. It is argued here that the policy studies which are needed must avoid the disciplinary fragmentation of the social sciences as well as that of the current administrative structure, that they must encompass research both for policy and on policy, and that they must seek their own conceptual structure, and in addition that certain organizational requirements follow from this.

scholarly journals Evidence, Ethics & Social Policy Dilemmas

1993 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven I. Miller ◽  
L. Arthur Safer
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evidential Support ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Evidence Condition

Within the philosophy of the social sciences, the relationship between evidence, ethics, and social policy is in need of further analysis. The present paper is an attempt to argue that while important social policies can, and perhaps ought to be, grounded in ethical theory, they are seldom articulated in this fashion due to the ambiguity surrounding the "evidence condition." Using a consequentialist-utilitarian framework, and a case study of a policy dilemma, the authors analyze the difficulties associated with resolving policy-based dilemmas which must appeal to evidential support as a justification for an ethical stand. Implication for the relevance of ethics to social policy formulation are discussed in detail.

scholarly journals Assessment of the social expenditure impact on the economic growth in OECD countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mykhaylo Malyovanyi ◽  
Nataliia Ivanova ◽  
Kateryna Melnyk ◽  
Oleksandr Nepochatenko ◽  
Oleksandr Rolinskyi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Fixed Effect Model ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Models ◽  
Social Expenditures ◽  
The Impact

Economic growth is exposed to many socio-economic factors that impact both the formation and allocation of resources. The theoretical part of this article discusses studies by various authors on the social expenditure impact on economic growth, the dependence of this influence on selected funding principles and social policy models. In the empirical part, using the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) procedure and the Fixed Effect Model, the impact of social expenditure on the economic growth in OECD countries is determined. An increased focus is put on assessing the long-term impact of the main types of social expenditures (public and private), based on different financing principles (distribution and accumulation), on the economic growth rates both in OECD in general and in the context of countries (based on the Esping-Andersen’s typology) grouped according to social policy models. The following conclusions are drawn: 1) an increase in the share of total social expenditures in the country’s GDP negatively affects economic growth; 2) an increase in the share of private social expenditures in the country’s GDP contributes to economic growth; 3) the obtained indicators of impact assessment are different depending on a social policy model chosen. The analysis is based on OECD panel data for the period 1980–2013.

scholarly journals Juventud e investigaciones sociales en Cuba

2017 ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
María Isabel Domínguez
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Treatment Area ◽  
The Social ◽  
Concrete Problem ◽  
Generational Identity ◽  
Last Stage ◽  
The Impact

ResumenLos estudios sobre Juventud han constituido una de las áreas de tratamiento más sistemático y estructurado por parte de las Ciencias Sociales en Cuba. El siguiente artículo hará referencia al recorrido de dichos estudios por más de cuatro décadas y centrará la atención en el tratamiento de un problema concreto investigado en la última etapa: la integración social de la juventud en el país y el impacto de los resultados de esos estudios en los cambios en las políticas sociales dirigidas a este sector.Palabras clave: Juventud, Investigaciones Sociales, Integración Social, Política Social, Subjetividad, Identidad Generacional.AbstractThe studies about Youth have constituted one of the more systematic and structured treatment area for Social Sciences in Cuba. The present paper makes reference to the journey of these studies for more than four decades. Also it pays attention to the treatment of a concrete problem researched in the last stage: the youth’s social integration in the country and the impact of the results of those studies in the social policies to this sector and its transformations.Key words: Youth, Social Research, Social Integration, Social Policy, Subjectivity, Generational Identity.

scholarly journals Juventud e investigaciones sociales en Cuba

2017 ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
María Isabel Domínguez
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Treatment Area ◽  
The Social ◽  
Concrete Problem ◽  
Generational Identity ◽  
Last Stage ◽  
The Impact

ResumenLos estudios sobre Juventud han constituido una de las áreas de tratamiento más sistemático y estructurado por parte de las Ciencias Sociales en Cuba. El siguiente artículo hará referencia al recorrido de dichos estudios por más de cuatro décadas y centrará la atención en el tratamiento de un problema concreto investigado en la última etapa: la integración social de la juventud en el país y el impacto de los resultados de esos estudios en los cambios en las políticas sociales dirigidas a este sector.Palabras clave: Juventud, Investigaciones Sociales, Integración Social, Política Social, Subjetividad, Identidad Generacional.AbstractThe studies about Youth have constituted one of the more systematic and structured treatment area for Social Sciences in Cuba. The present paper makes reference to the journey of these studies for more than four decades. Also it pays attention to the treatment of a concrete problem researched in the last stage: the youth’s social integration in the country and the impact of the results of those studies in the social policies to this sector and its transformations.Key words: Youth, Social Research, Social Integration, Social Policy, Subjectivity, Generational Identity.

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