Academy of Social Sciences

Did you know we have a journal? 📖 Contemporary Social Science, edited by Professor David Bailey FAcSS, is an interdisciplinary cross-national journal which publishes theoretical, empirical and pragmatic research across the social sciences and related disciplines. Recent open access articles include: ➡️ Levelling up as green industrial policy by Ed Atkins ➡️ Education and the spatial division of labour: further education and prospects for ‘Levelling Up’ by Michael Donnelly, Joanne Davies, Matt Dickson, Aline Courtois & Predrag Lažetić ➡️ Maximising the (unequal) benefits of foreign direct investment: addressing the two-speed problem by nigel driffield, Lord Richard Harrington, IRINA SURDU & Xiaocan Yuan Find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/d2rsTExw #socialscience #journal

The UK Government will need to navigate a plethora of questions on technology, innovation and education. One of the case studies in our new report, ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’, highlights the work of the TRUE Project, based at Swansea University, which has adopted an innovative interdisciplinary methodology at the intersection of law, psychology and linguistics to develop the first systematic account of trust in user-generated evidence. Social science is at the fore of this project which explores the impact of deepfakes on trust in user-generated evidence in accountability processes for human rights violations. Download the full report 📖 to find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/gwRPHTkA ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’ is a joint publication between the Academy's Campaign for Social Science and Sage Publications. It summarises the insights of over 100 social scientists who contributed to the Campaign’s Election 24 project which sought to foreground social science perspectives, research and evidence relevant to public policy in the run up to the UK General Election. #socialscience #policy #socialsciences

“Every country is different, but the UK must continue to learn from experience around the world. There’s enormous potential for research to explore what works to increase trust in democracy, including in terms of the themes I’ve talked about today: focusing on the experience of individual voters, resetting voter expectations of what is possible for governments to achieve; and increasingly the ability of governments to deliver.” Elections have been held in more than 70 countries and among nearly half of the world’s population, making 2024 a significant year for both democracy and the global political landscape. In our 2024 Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture, Dr Hannah White OBE, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government, shared her insights on what the future might hold for the UK in a changing geopolitical landscape following a year of elections. In a wide ranging and thought-provoking talk, Hannah summarised some of the key themes this year of elections has illustrated to ask: what is the relationship between governments delivering for their people and the trust of those people in democracy? You can catch up by watching the recording on our website ➡ https://lnkd.in/epQZe-rv Sage #socialscience #elections #politics

“We need to do all we can to create and spread the flow of true information. Here social science has both a role and a responsibility. Social science, after all, is about gathering hard evidence about the dynamics of human society, not just as a scholarly end itself but to suggest public and private policies to address the worst failings.” In this piece for Research Professional, our President, Will Hutton, draws on our recent report, Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges, to explore how social science can improve public debate. Read now ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e7E-_Huj #socialscience #evidence #policy #misinformation

Our new report showcases the research-led insights of over 100 leading social scientists on policy-applicable areas, many of which complement the UK Government’s policy agenda. One such area is migration - our contributors sought to outline evidence which could offer insight on a debate which generally retains high political saliency in the UK, but where narratives around the topic can be characterised by low levels of evidence and high levels of misinformation. “Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges” highlights a range of research, evidence and perspectives from across the breadth of social science disciplines which showcase the relevance of social scientists’ expertise in informing ongoing migration policy. One such example comes from the work of the National Centre for Social Research’s immigration portal, which explores the impact of immigration and evaluates interventions to support future policy development. From this work, outputs have included: ➡ A chapter within the British Social Attitudes 41 report, ‘Immigration: Changing attitudes, policy preferences and partisanship’ which uses data from three different surveys, to examine how attitudes to immigration have evolved over the past two decades. ➡ The report, ‘Public attitudes towards immigration and minority ethnic groups’, which found that attitudes towards immigration and ethnic minority groups were mixed. ➡ A study, ‘Evaluation of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy in Scotland’, which was explored what the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy achieved between 2018 and 2022. Download the full report 📖 to find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/gwRPHTkA ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’ is a joint publication between the Academy's Campaign for Social Science and Sage Publications. It summarises the insights of over 100 social scientists who contributed to the Campaign’s Election 24 project which sought to foreground social science perspectives, research and evidence relevant to public policy in the run up to the UK General Election. #socialscience #policy #socialsciences

Are you interested in the causal effects of AI in policymaking and business? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is accelerating change in the economy and society. But while AI has the potential to be transformative, not all uses of AI will be a game changer – or be the positive force we want it to be. How do we cut through the noise and find out what AI will actually do for us? Join this free webinar, in partnership with the UK Evaluation Society and The Social Research Association, where Professor Oliver Hauser will discuss how policymakers, researchers and evaluators should think about evaluating the causal effects of AI in policy-making and business. In a world of fast paced change where AI promises to be able to do anything and everything for us, Oliver will highlight the importance of “test, learn, adapt” and why we need the best policymakers, researchers and evaluators to hold us (and the technology) accountable, making sure we figure out what actually works. Event details: 📅 12 December 2024 ⏰ 12.30pm-1.30pm 💻 Online Register now ➡ https://lnkd.in/eXPb5x7s About the speaker: Professor Oliver Hauser is Professor of Economics and Deputy Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at University of Exeter, University of Exeter, Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University, and Senior Specialist Advisor for the Evaluation Task Force at the Cabinet Office.

Are you interested in learning more about the funding landscape for social science research in the UK? Our report draws largely on published annual Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) research funding data between 2013/14 and 2021/22, to document the scale and trends in research funding for the social sciences across UK higher education. Download the full report to find out more 📖 ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eNyB74sW #socialscience #research #funding

Over the past decade, greater attention has been paid to the importance of place-based agendas which understand and reflect local context when developing policy solutions, and in developing resilient local institutions and approaches to support them. Our new report, ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’, showcases the research-led insights of over 100 leading social scientists on many policy-applicable areas, including regional equity and growth. One of the case studies in the report features insights from one of the Academy’s previous reports, ‘The Place to Be’, which examined some of the ways in which social sciences are helping to improve places in the UK, and emphasised the contribution of leading social science departments in universities across all four UK nations to their local and regional communities. ‘The Place to Be’, drew on 24 different examples and cited social scientists helping, amongst other things,: ➡ Local businesses to improve their productivity and economic prospects ➡ Cities to plan better and more flexible housing for people as they age ➡ Health authorities to deliver better results in preventative health work ➡ Local schools to achieve better educational outcomes for pupils ➡ Local police forces to address issues such as knife crime, crime hot spots, domestic violence, paramilitarism and crime ➡ Local policymakers to obtain better evidence about the impact of proposed policies Download the full report to find out more➡ https://lnkd.in/gwRPHTkA ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’ is a joint publication between the Academy's Campaign for Social Science and Sage Publications. It summarises the insights of over 100 social scientists who contributed to the Campaign’s Election 24 project which sought to foreground social science perspectives, research and evidence relevant to public policy in the run up to the UK General Election. #socialscience #policy #socialsciences

Rebuilding a strong and resilient economy is one of the UK Government’s five mission areas. Our new report showcases social science research, perspectives and ideas from leading social scientists on many policy-applicable areas, including macroeconomic policy. A case study in our new report highlights the final report for The Economy 2030 Inquiry, which uses an abundance of social science research data to propose 10 macroeconomic measures, which could form a coherent attempt to address major, long-standing issues in the UK economy, including high inequality, low productivity and slow growth: ➡ Export of services ➡ Increased productivity in the UK’s second cities ➡ Increased public investment ➡ More longer-term business investment ➡ Make ‘Good Work’ available everywhere ➡ Creating a more equal UK ➡ Sharing prosperity ➡ Better taxation ➡ Making finances more resilient ➡ Catching up with comparator nations Download the full report 📖 to find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/gwRPHTkA ‘Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges’ is a joint publication between the Academy's Campaign for Social Science and Sage Publications. It summarises the insights of over 100 social scientists who contributed to the Campaign’s Election 24 project which sought to foreground social science perspectives, research and evidence relevant to public policy in the run up to the UK General Election. #socialscience #policy #socialsciences

Are you a social science society looking for advice and guidance on how to prioritise equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across your organisation’s ways of working? Our EDI hub draws together free resources and good practice examples from across the Academy, our member societies and other organisations, to provide advice and guidance on how to embed and prioritise EDI governance and leadership, funding, membership, events, publishing and research groups and networking communities. Find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/eu-g8GJh The EDI Project is a joint programme between The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), its member Social Science Societies and the ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council. The project aims to encourage and facilitate greater awareness of, and actions to support, EDI across member social science societies, by working together to share resources, learning and to maximise the potential to effect real and positive change.