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Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen into the nature and extent of communal division in societies emerging from conflict — particularly in Northern Ireland — has directly benefitted policy makers and community leaders through personal briefings and exposure on influential electronic media. The research findings have also benefitted action groups, peace practitioners, churches and other civil society groups in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and elsewhere through workshops and training materials; and they have raised awareness and understanding and stimulated debate through the purposeful use of online media outlets.
The impact of this research has been achieved through developing evidence-based recommendations for personal advisers in Jobcentre Plus — the UK's one-stop service for administering state benefits and helping claimants into work. By opening the `black box' of adviser- claimant interviews for the first time, the study produced the following key impacts:
Beneficiaries were those claiming state benefits, Jobcentre Plus advisers and managers, and DWP and other Government policymakers.
The British Household Panel Study (BHPS) is a longitudinal survey that has followed a representative sample of individuals since the early 1990s. The resource is used routinely by government departments (e.g. DWP, HMRC, Cabinet Office) and third-sector bodies (e.g. Children's Society) for their research and for monitoring progress towards policy targets. The data's longitudinal character has helped to transform government departments' understanding of the goals of social policies, and allowed them to redefine targets in ways not possible without the BHPS. Examples include DWP's monitoring of persistent poverty, which uses BHPS data to estimate the probability of an individual living in poverty for several successive years.
Rosengarten's work during the past fourteen years has provided the HIV field with new ways of rethinking otherwise seemingly intractable problems of more effective prevention. Despite over 30 years of biomedical and social research, and policy and programme implementation, the HIV epidemic continues to grow. The efficacies of repurposing potentially toxic and partially effective antiretroviral drugs for prevention in those perceived at risk of infection has thus come under scrutiny. It is in this context that Rosengarten's work has intervened and introduced an alternative approach to prevention that directly scrutinises the social contexts in which people live and work with HIV. Through this approach and her active engagement with clinicians, policy makers, scientists and advocacy groups she has contributed critical insights that have been incorporated into approaches to HIV prevention in practice.
Through the production of policy and practice reports, public engagement events, provision of continuing professional development (CPD) and training for practitioners, and dialogue with key stakeholders in government, the research team on sexuality and intimacy in the OU has had a direct impact on policy and practice concerning intimate lives in the UK. In particular, they have effected change in policy and public understandings of both bisexuality and intimate relationships. Underpinning this work is a motivation to shape contemporary debates about our intimate lives to further social justice and improve quality of life.
Essex research on understanding the vulnerability of displaced persons has changed the practice of organisations that work with asylum seekers and refugees. Professor Renos Papadopoulos' research has focused on the resilience and strengths of the individual, rather than seeing him/her as a passive `victim'. This approach has informed two instruments that are used to assess vulnerability: the Trauma Grid and ASPIS. These instruments have been adopted by a number of organisations throughout the world and Papadopoulos has produced a training manual and provided training programmes for frontline and management staff. The examples provided here document his work with organisations based in the UK, Greece, Colombia and Sudan.
This case study describes Waiton's research on `moral panics' around children, young people, and football fans. Increasingly, Waiton has developed a national profile as a `public sociologist' and has been invited to contribute to policy debates and processes related to his research. This has had an impact on practitioners and stakeholders in areas like community work, youth work and practices, and government committees.
The work in this Case Study details the impact of James Moir's research on communication across different institutional areas of public life, including, health consultations and pedagogical discourse in higher education. Specific impacts include influencing the way in which general practitioners in medicine are trained with respect to their discussions within medical consultations; and contributing to pedagogical debate and policy within the Higher Education sector, particularly in Scotland with respect to the discourse on graduate attributes.
Professor Andrew Webster's sociological research on developments in biomedical science has been impactful in shaping regulatory practice and influencing policy in relation to biobanking, stem cell research and regenerative medicine. In particular, his research has been used to: change donation procedures to the UK Biobank; influence regulatory decisions made by the UK Stem Cell Bank Steering Committee (UKSCBSC); contribute to regulatory practices associated with clinical trial design and adoption, and inform the UK government's investment strategy in regenerative medicine.
Enacting citizenship research at The Open University's (OU) Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG) is helping to re-define the idea of citizenship by contributing to policy and public debates across Europe. These research ideas are being used by European policymakers to reform European citizenship policies. Activists across Europe are increasingly using the research to give them a vocabulary through which they can understand their collective activism as European citizenship.