Academic publisher SAGE and the British Academy recently hosted a debate to explore how social science research can strengthen its involvement in policymaking, increase its impact, and combat potential public expenditure cuts. The debate, titled ‘Towards A Better Tomorrow? The Crucial Role of Social Science’ took place at the Royal Society, London, as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science.
While the social science disciplines were observed to play a crucial role in contributing to a better quality of life, the tone of the discussion was reportedly bleak, with large funding cuts looming, and an ‘anti-research’ mood within government.
Speaking on the panel, Prof. Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of the ESRC and RCUK Chief Executives' Champion of Research Careers and Diversity, commented that social science lies at the heart of understanding and tackling the complex challenges of society. His comments were supported by SAGE’s Deputy Managing Director and Publishing Director, Ziyad Marar, who pointed to the government’s cabinet office priorities - these identify globalisation, ageing, family, crime, climate change and wellbeing as key areas. Prof. Diamond also noted the fragility of the sector, due to a ‘grey and greying’ membership, with the majority of active academics in several disciplines over the age of 55. His proposed solution for this was to support not just young career researchers, but to engage with the schools sector to make children want to become social scientists in the future.
A key message from all panelists was that social science research can and does have direct relevance to policy making. There was much support for the value of the social sciences, and discussion of ways social researchers can help to promote the value of their work. Prof. Diamond promoted the need for strong formal training, which would in turn help to advance better methodologies and interdisciplinary collaboration. There was also a call to promote stronger statistical training to provide better evidence, and to engage with the civil service more directly as a route to influencing ministers.
The Festival of Social Science is hosted by the Economic and Social Research Council from March 12-21, 2010, alongside National Science and Engineering Week.
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