9. Social research
Social Research is the scientific study of society. It examines individuals’ or society’s attitudes, beliefs, trends, behaviours and rules. This enables issues to be identified, measured and understood when answering an identified research question. Any study that deals with how humans interact, or are affected by certain aspects of life, like policies, falls under social research.
Answering an identified research question with social research
Use either, or a combination of:
Primary and secondary research
- primary research collects fresh data for analysis
- secondary research makes use of existing information in its analysis – eg secondary analysis of existing administrative data, review of existing literature
Qualitative and quantitative research methods
- qualitative methods, for example focus groups, explore issues in depth and can provide evidence on the types of factors that may influence the issue under consideration
- quantitative methods, for example face to face or online surveys, investigate and can quantify the proportion of people within a group of interest who think or act in a certain way
Social research in government
Within government, social research provides empirical evidence and analysis to help understand and explain the nature of human behaviour, social structures and cultures, and examines the social impacts of government policies.
This evidence can be crucial in:
- informing policy development – how best to influence and/or motivate individuals to pursue a required behaviour)
- influence policy making decisions – help to understand which policy option will produce the desired impact within the population of interest)
- understanding and managing any risks associated with policy decisions – how to mitigate any negative impacts of policy on a particular group, how to influence public acceptability in relation to a policy option
All social researchers within government are members of the Government Social Research (GSR) service. GSR comprises over 1,000 social researchers across government and exists to:
- provide government with objective, reliable, relevant and timely social research
- support the development, implementation, review and evaluation of policy and delivery
- ensure policy debate is informed by the best research evidence and thinking from the social sciences
Social research in ACME
Current and recently completed work includes:
- ACME research strategy – development of a research strategy 2013/14 to 2015/16 to meet the Department’s strategic and policy evidence needs
- Social impacts research programme – developing the Department’s understanding of its social impact in terms of the range, scale and value of participation and engagement in its sectors
- Well-being research – informing cross-government initiatives analysing societies’ subjective well-being as a measure of government performance. This work aims to assess and reflect the importance of ACME sectors in individuals’ well-being
- Drivers, impacts and value of culture and sport – evidence on the factors driving participation in culture and sport and its impact and value
- Philanthropy – research exploring the fundraising landscape across the culture and sport sectors.
- Business Models – research investigating the views and activities of organisations within the sports and cultural sectors and the resilience and sustainability of organisations within the current economic climate.
- Management of CASE – the Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme aims to support the strategic needs of ACME and its partner ALBs (Arts Council England, English Heritage and Sport England). Work seeks to explore cross-cutting issues of relevance to each organisation in order to enable joined working and maximising learning given limited resources.
- Consumer behaviour – research exploring the attitudes and behaviours of vulnerable consumers in relation to the use of digital radio.
