Evaluating social policy, practice and innovation (SOCIOLOGY)
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Evaluating sociological policies and how to implement them
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Evaluating social policy, practice and innovation (SOCIOLOGY)
Institution
Cardiff University (CF)
1. context of evaluation - intro
2. the policy making system
3. what is the policy being evaluated - identifying intervention theory
the processes and outcomes
4. what is the policy being evaluated - policy development
5. evaluating effectiveness of a policy
6. designing an evaluation - iden...
Evaluating social policy, practice and innovation (SOCIOLOGY)
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31/01/23
Evaluating social practice, Policy, and innovation – Lecture 1
Ministerial Briefing 40% - Introducing a new social policy to Wales, “The introduction of incentives
(discounts or financial remuneration) for blood donation.” Evaluate evidence for the proposed policy
and if further evaluation is required.
Intro- 200 words
Evidence base- 800 words
Recommendation- 200 words (based on evidence
what is the right course of action) Policy
Evaluation Plan 60% - 1800 words. Consider a plan for the development or adaptation of an
intervention for one of 3 policies:
1) Under identification of needs of Asian and black children with special educational needs in
UK.
2) Increased use of single use plastic during covid 19 pandemic UK.
3) loneliness and social isolation among older people in UK.
Outline problems being addressed and the causes of problem – 300 words.
Describe the intervention and how the intervention will address the cause – 300 words.
Describe process for developing intervention – 600 words.
Describe process for undertaking a process and outcome of intervention – 600 words.
What is an intervention?
- Locating an issue and getting involved to find a solution/aid the situation
- Interventions are events in systems, they disrupt existing system practices (Hawe et all
2009).
- Direct in order to try and improve the system of situation.
- Something that people engage with- Can be a law, counselling session, social media, trying
to change what people do.
What is an evaluation?
- Evaluating whether the intervention will work or not
- critically appraise the intervention, policy or practice in order to judge if it is effective
(Patton, 1987).
- Evaluating develops from drug trails.
- Disease response and human response.
Issues
- How to get people to respond to intervention. Social problems are the result of numerous
interacting causes – so many causes
- humans are constantly exposed to multiple factors that make it difficult to disentangle the
issue.
- Eg obesity- advertisements, the power big companies like coke have all contribute to the
issue, it is not one thing that can reverse it.
, - Interventions are delivered in highly complex systems. Lots of things happen in the world
that change and effect interventions – eg. Domestic violence victims and the pandemic.
- Humans have the right of making structured choices. Interventions need to engage people
and encourage as people can chose not to comply- different histories and identities that we
are working.
- Effectiveness is impacted by implementation (type 3 error). Good ideas can be ruined by the
delivery of them. Do more work to evaluate the most effective way to implement them.
Moving interventions across different contexts and countries that are known to work in some places
and making adaptations in order for it to fit that culture/context. Interventions come from higher
resource countries and trying to move them to lower resource countries is not possible without
adaptation as they have different needs and resources.
Why do we not see interventions from lower resource countries to higher resource countries? It may
be effective or possibly more as they have more access to things.
When to conduct an evaluation?
Did it bring about positive change? All we can know is what works for whom in a certain
circumstance. Did it have the impact we intended?
Evaluations meet the needs of multiple groups:
Researchers
Policy makers
Practitioners
Public
Each of these groups will have a different view and interpretations of evidence from the evaluations
that are made.
They may favour different evidence or disagree with certain parts.
Evidence can be contested EG. Face masks during pandemic in schools and shops, some people
agree and comply, some people do not agree but comply and some disagree and do not comply.
EG. people were wary of the COVID vaccine so evidence that it worked and was safe was vital for
them to agree to have it and some people did not and would have taken it no matter what, while
others would refuse all together.
To justify an evaluation, we should be in a place or Social Equipoise (petticrew et al, 2013).
We are uncertain if an intervention works or not.
If an intervention works, how should we be delivering it? Unethical to deny someone who
needs it while we test it.
If an intervention doesn’t work or is harmful, we shouldn’t be delivering it? Unethical to
deliver it to someone when we think it may harm them while we test it.
Political risk
- Holds the decision maker up to scrutiny, and evaluation can prove that an intervention
implemented with public money does not work.
- Policy maker in a vulnerable position in terms of reputation and career so can be a
challenging stance (petticrew et al 2013).
, Medical Research Council: Methodological Guidance, 2000, 2008, 2021 – helpful reading.
Medical Research Council guidance for development and evaluation of complex interventions (2000;
2008; 2021)
Lecture 2 -07/02/22
Government and social research
The policy making system
How government works:
political parties are elected depending on their manifesto. Coalitions complicate this – have
to negotiate terms so not everything in the manifesto can go ahead depending on the
negotiations
parliament and government are not the same thing – parliament keeps an eye on gov and
regulates that what gov implements is in the public’s best interests.
Government decides health, transport, housing, and Welsh laws.
civil servants discuss priorities with ministers – focuses on manifesto policies.
civil servants provide ministerial advice on policy making.
civil servants implement policy and not every detail comes to the attention of the minister.
Special advisors – work between the minister and the civil servants. Keeps an eye on the
detail that the minister is unable to carry out themselves.
The challenges in policy making and implementing
- Everyone wants the gov to do more on issues they feel strongly about. Government officials
have pressure from all areas.
- Policy officials have limited time available. Change in legislation takes a long time.
- Change is slow and difficult
- The relationships between different parts of the system of the system can be complex.
Policy to delivery of the policy.
- Different parts of the system will have their own interests and may include different
departments within the government.
Research and government
- National government fund different types of research
- Programmes of research on a theme
- Centres for applied research
- Evaluations of specific policies or programmes / interventions
- Studies to inform future policy
- Evidence clearing houses
- Fairly open evaluative research
- Blue skies research at arms length via research councils
- Quality-related research funding direct to universities
Barriers to evidence informing policy
- Lack of data
- Lack of research to inform a specific policy
- Timing of decisions, may be a short time frame where the task is not do able in that amount
of time
- Differing views across government departments
- Completing demands for the budget
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