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Econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Taylor-Gooby, Peter Working Paper Social policy research in the UK, with special reference to crossnational comparative research: ZeS country report ZeS-Arbeitspapier, No. 05/2012 Provided in Cooperation with: University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS) Suggested Citation: Taylor-Gooby, Peter (2012) : Social policy research in the UK, with special reference to crossnational comparative research: ZeS country report, ZeS-Arbeitspapier, No. 05/2012, Universität Bremen, Zentrum für Sozialpolitik (ZeS), Bremen This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/67485 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Peter Taylor-Gooby Social Policy Research in the UK, with Special Reference to Cross- national Comparative Research ZeS Country Report ZeS-Working Paper No. 05/2012 In cooperation with WORKING PAPERS Zentrum für Sozialpolitik Universität Bremen Postfach 33 04 40 28334 Bremen Phone: 0421 / 218-58500 Fax: 0421 / 218-58622 E-mail: [email protected] Editor: Dr. Christian Peters http://www.zes.uni-bremen.de Design: cappovision, Frau Wild ZeS-Arbeitspapiere ISSN 1436-7203 2 Peter Taylor-Gooby Social Policy Research in the UK, with Special Reference to Cross- national Comparative Research ZeS Country Report ZeS-Working Paper No. 05/2012 In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Taylor-Gooby University of Kent, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research [email protected] 3 4 WORKING PAPERS 05/ 2012 The Country Reports on the State of Social Policy Research are published from time to time in the Working Paper Series of the Center for Social Policy. An experienced scientist offers an overview of the central institutions and persons in comparative and national social policy research in his or her country. These reports can never depict the whole landscape but they can help T by focusing our attention on the strengths, the special exper- tise, and the special features of the respective research com- OR munity as it confronts welfare state challenges and reforms in P the 21st century. Each country report may provide its readers E with a starting point for their own research, and it can point R to the well-travelled networks and to the dominant issues at hand. RY RY T COUN Die Länder-Reporte Sozialpolitikforschung erscheinen in un- regelmäßigen Abständen in der Arbeitspapierreihe des Zen- ZES trums für Sozialpolitik. Vom Standpunkt einer erfahrenen Wissenschaftlerin oder eines erfahrenen Wissenschaftlers wird hier eine Übersicht über die relevanten Institutionen und Personen der vergleichenden und nationalen Sozialpolitik- forschung in dem jeweiligen Land gegeben. Diese Berichte können keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit der Darstellung erheben. Sie sollen aber die Stärken, Expertisen und Beson- derheiten der jeweiligen Forschungslandschaft hervorheben, die jede auf ihre Weise die Herausforderungen und Reformen der Wohlfahrtspolitiken im 21. Jahrhundert konfrontiert. Sie können den Leserinnen und Lesern Ansatzpunkte für die ei- gene Forschung und Forschungszugänge bieten, die bestim- menden Forschungsthemen kennzeichnen und die Netzwerk- bildung fördern. 5 6 WORKING PAPERS 05/ 2012 T Main Points 8 EN T 1. Character of UK Social Policy 9 2. Strengths and Weaknesses 11 ON C 3. Comparative work in the UK 15 3.1 Theoretical issues 15 3.2 Economic Crisis and Austerity 15 3.3 Health and Health Care 16 3.4 Poverty and Inequality 16 3.5 Work-related Issues 16 3.6 Demography and Ageing 16 3.7 NGOs and the Third Sector 17 3.8 Globalisation, Migration and Development Studies 17 3.9 Europe and the EU 17 3.10 Welfare outside Europe 18 4. Potential and opportunities 18 Information Sources 20 References 21 Appendix 22 7 Main Points 1. Social Policy research in the UK is pur- heterogeneous nature of the research sued in a large number of centres with di- community. They include excessive con- verse funding and interests by research- cern with short-term work and a relative ers from a number of disciplines. lack of detailed and thorough longer- term analyses of outcomes; allied to this 2. It has a number of strengths and also a lack of systematic evaluation of policy some weaknesses. The strengths include: measures such as the current expansion close engagement with current policy of means-testing, the shift to market- issues (leading for example to work on oriented managerial systems with exten- social investment programmes, climate sive involvement of for-profit providers or change and social policy, New Public the extension of restorative justice in the Management, activation policies, co-pro- criminal justice system; and limited en- duction, the third sector and behavioural gagement in cross-national work outside economics); strong cross-disciplinary a few centres. Different researchers have linkages (for example interest in issues different objectives and work may some- such as legitimation, politics of welfare, times be poorly co-ordinated. Resources culture and social provision, gender is- to support sustained cross-national work sues, theoretical approaches to social are limited. policy, risk and social policy, social policy and the life-course); a relatively rich and 3. UK researchers could contribute to diverse data environment (for example a cross-national programme on social longitudinal and demographic studies, policy and would also benefit from ex- ethnography, attitudinal studies); and a pertise elsewhere and from working in concern of funders with the non-academic large multi-disciplinary teams. Their con- impact of research (for example system- tributions might lie in breadth of interest atic review, media studies). Research is of and capacity to draw on a range of disci- relatively high quality as assessed by the plines and strengths in comparative work, Research Assessment Exercises in 2001 women’s studies, poverty and inequality and 2008, with large differences between studies, social policy and administration leading and weaker departments. UK re- management, social science theory as searchers have occupied a strong posi- applied to policies and in the availability tion in co-ordinating and participating in of policy-relevant data. Areas where the cross-national European research funded UK community might gain and develop by the EU through Cordis, and especially further from such involvement might be in applied social science projects. in methodological rigour and better out- The weaknesses result mainly from come analysis of policy interventions, and the orientation of much research towards also in engagement in cross-national col- policy issues and from the dispersed and laborations. 8 WORKING PAPERS 05/ 2012 1. Character of UK Social Policy For a number of reasons, social policy re- demic community. While the outcomes search in the UK is based in a range of are broadly accepted by research commu- institutions funded from different sources nities, largely because they are derived and with different interests and orienta- from a laborious peer-review occupying tions. The quality and range of work in a committee of some 20 academics for the various departments differs greatly. a two-year period, the outcomes relate The 2008 RAE report ranked 16 per cent closely to measures such as size of de- of work in the subject at the highest in- partment, status of the journals in which ternational level, with 37 per cent of in- academics publish, numbers of postgrad- ternational standing. The mean score was uates and research grant income. McKay 2.59, rather higher than mean scores in (2004) carried out a detailed analysis of Sociology, Law and Political Science and the Social Policy results for the 2001 ex- Development Studies, but below Econom- ercise which explained just over 80 per ics and Anthropology. There is substantial cent of the variance and the ranking posi- variation between departments in size and tion of all departments except one (Bath quality. Kent submitted 55.7 staff, LSE and which at that time was relatively small for the University of York more than 50 and its quality of output) on the basis of this Bristol, Edinburgh, Keele, Leeds, Salford, data (Figure 1, p. 24). Taylor (2011) has and Nottingham more than 30 (Table 1, p. conducted the same exercise for Econom- 22). The highest ranked departments are ics and Econometrics with similar results LSE, then Bath, Kent, Southampton and (Figure 2, p. 24). Leeds (all ranked second
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