Government funded research A researchers perspective Helen Barnes Policy Studies Institute 26 September 2003

Where Im coming from Researcher mainly on employment, family policy and welfare benefit issues, at PSI, and before this at SPRU and the Family Policy Studies Centre Comments relate to experiences of funding by DWP and DfES

Positives Major and important source of funding for research Engage with current policy issues Good levels of funding Recognition of financial costs of good research practice (ESOL, access) Assistance with sampling (e.g. via administrative records)

Negatives Level of prescription re research questions and methods Short and rigid timescales Lack of understanding of qualitative research Degree of control over research instruments Control re tone and presentation of findings Reluctance to disseminate

Issues and problems Researchers increasingly feel that their professional skills and independence are undermined Short timescales threaten to compromise quality Government funders clearly feel acute anxiety about the quality and timeliness of much commissioned research Need to maintain dialogue

Research funded by charitable foundations A researchers perspective Helen Barnes Policy Studies Institute 26 September 2003

Based on experiences of: Joseph Rowntree Foundation Nuffield Foundation Slides examine the experience of research funded by charitable funding at 3 key stages

Applying for funding Openness to emerging new areas of policy interest Encouragement of proactive bids Informative feedback on unsuccessful bids Interest in building coherent body of knowledge on issues

Doing the research Independent advisory groups, to which researchers can nominate, often play a vital role Researchers assumed to be best judges of appropriate methods Flexibility re changes to proposed methods and timescales in light of developments in the field

Dissemination Explicit commitment to dissemination and making research available to lay users Advisory groups help build audiences for research Themed programmatic events help build evidence base

But not without problems of its own…. Slow and inflexible timescales for submission of proposals Adoption of priority areas can mean that interesting areas of work are excluded Requirements re ethics committees, etc. can be cumbersome Sometimes low levels of funding can make it hard for those with high overheads to apply