How do government agencies use evidence?

Executive summary: Significant research gaps remain in our understanding about what happens in side government agencies in relation to the production, commissioning, assessment and incorporation of research-based evidence into their policy advice and their program delivery and review activities. Practices and capabilities vary enormously across types of public agencies, levels of government, and policy areas. Understanding these patterns and potentialities better would help focus attention on effective methods for improving the quality of decision-making through evidence­-informed processes. Currently, public agencies gather administrative information from their own operations, as a necessary component of undertaking program management and reporting; but there is little information about how rigorous information related to programs is actually used for performance management and program review. Little is known about how agencies access information from ‘external’ sources of expertise, which external sources are favored over others, and how external information is used for developing better programs or performance metrics. One key feature of an evidence-­based policy process would be extent to which evaluation processes are built into the standard operating procedures of policy and service delivery units. Building an analysis and evaluation culture requires the availability of skilled staff as well as organizational leadership that values high quality analysis. Although it is widely agreed that evidence-­based improvements to policy and administrative systems are both desirable and possible, we cannot expect that a democratic public policy system could be primarily shaped by objective research findings. Various forms of evidence, both rigorous and otherwise, will continue to inform the policy process. Democratic leaders will pay attention to stakeholders and public opinion as well as scientific evidence. However, persistent efforts and targeted investments could help to create more systematic link ages between rigorous research and the processes of policy-­making. Progress towards a more evidence-­informed policy and administrative system would require commitment and investment at several levels – individuals, organizational units, and cross-­organizational relationships. Rigorous research findings on key issues are not yet available in many areas for informing policy and program managers. Creating such a research base takes time and resources. Even where reliable evidence has been documented, it is not always available in formats that meet the practical needs of policy and program managers. The professional knowledge of experienced service providers and program managers is especially relevant in social care domains where robust experimental knowledge is unlikely to emerge. Scientific and professional knowledge need to interact. The ‘translation’ of research findings into 7 codes, standards and procedures for professional practice has advanced in many areas but extracting ‘lessons’ from research findings and adopting them successfully in professional practice entails complex issues of education, relation ships and collaboration. This brief review highlights known areas of strength in the research base for evidence-­based policies and programs, together with matters where there are significant research gaps hindering a solid understanding of evidence­use by government agencies in social policy-making and program development. The review draws attention to important background differences between the roles and resources for the various levels of government, and differences in administrative cultures and practices between policy areas and across national boundaries. This analysis leads to the identification of several key priorities for further research, taking into account what is already known concerning the key re search issues. These priorities include better understanding of: how major policy reforms, and associated program implementation, have been significantly assisted by rigorous research; the lessons that emerge from implementation and translational research in service innovation; sources of variation in the use of expert information by a range of different public agencies; factors that might improve the use of research-­based evidence by government agencies in priority fields of social policy; support for lower levels of government to conduct their core activities in ways that make effective use of relevant information; methods for encouraging best practice in relation to evidence-­based tri als, improving interaction and exchange processes, organizing expert fo rums and civic engagement, improving research receptivity and capabil ity within public agencies; methods for institutionalizing respect for rigorous evidence across the turbulence of political and electoral changes; the appropriate adoption and adaptation of international experience

The value and character of political science: report on the member's survey, September 2014

In the lead-up to the 2014 APSA Conference, the APSA Executive agreed to a proposal by the president, Brian Head, to conduct a rapid survey of members’ opinions on the nature and future of political science. Background The focus on research impact reflects contemporary trends in higher education and research funding policies in a number of countries. There are sound moral, ethical and financial arguments that publicly-funded academics should use their training and activities for the good of society. Concepts of academic impact and quality have been continuously refined and measured, mainly in terms of high-status publications in journals with higher citation counts. Reliance on such ‘ivory tower’ measures of impact have been increasingly contested over recent years. Thus, in the United Kingdom and Australia, there have been increasing expectations that publicly-funded research should have ‘impact’ beyond academia, and should yield demonstrable economic, environmental and social benefits. These expectations, and an accompanying focus on encouraging research engagement and collaboration, have underpinned the external‘ impact agenda’. In 2013 the Australian Research Council (ARC) defined research impact as ‘the demonstrable contribution that research makes to the economy, society, culture, national security, public policy or services, health, the environment, or quality of life, beyond contributions to academia. The focus on measuring the economic and societal benefits from research has resulted in increasingly sophisticated and complex research assessment mechanisms, such as the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) exercise, and the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF). While the 2015 round of the ERA does not currently include an impact assessment component, the language of impact is explicit in ARC grant applications and reporting mechanisms, and impact trials were conducted in Australia in2011–12 (Australian Technology Network of Universities and Group of Eight 2013)

Shakespearean Crosswords

It is fairly well known that, according to the generally accepted history of the puzzles, crosswords were first created in the USA in 1913 and crossed the Atlantic to Great Britain some eleven years later. In fact, a study of much of literature shows this to be false, and reveals innumerable earlier references to crosswords. The works of William Shakespeare provide a particularly rich source of such allusions

After half a century of ‘wicked’ policy problems, are we any better at managing them?

Since the term was popularised by Rittel and Webber in their seminal article, Dilemmas in a general theory of planning, the concept of ‘wicked problems’, or those that are resistant to optimal solutions, has posed a significant challenge to the creation of public policy. In this post, Brian Head, draws on his new book, Wicked Problems in Public Policy, to discuss how approaches to wicked problems and the challenges caused by an increasingly complex and polarised society have developed in recent years and argues for an approach aimed at better managing wicked problems, as opposed to seeking to directly solve them

Wicked problems in public policy

Some of the most difficult policy problems of the modern era have been described as complex, intractable, open-ended and 'wicked'. What are the key features of such problems? And are they really very different in nature from more routine problems? Are we developing better ways to address these wicked problems? This paper sketches some key aspects of wicked problems, and illustrates the discussion with two contemporary Australian examples - recent attempts to address the causes and possible solutions to Indigenous disadvantage; and policy responses to climate change

Wicked Problems in Public Policy

This is an open access book. This book offers the first overview of the ‘wicked problems’ literature, often seen as complex, open-ended, and intractable, with both the nature of the ‘problem’ and the preferred ‘solution’ being strongly contested. It contextualises the debate using a wide range of relevant policy examples, explaining why these issues attract so much attention. There is an increasing interest in the conceptual and practical aspects of how ‘wicked problems’ are identified, understood and managed by policy practitioners. The standard public management responses to complexity and uncertainty (including traditional regulation and market-based solutions) are insufficient. Leaders often advocate and implement ideological ‘quick fixes’, but integrative and inclusive responses are increasingly being utilised to recognise the multiple interests and complex causes of these problems. This book uses examples from a wide range of social, economic and environmental fields in order to develop new insights about better solutions, and thus gain broad stakeholder acceptance for shared strategies for tackling ‘wicked problems’

Wicked Problems in Public Policy

This is an open access book. This book offers the first overview of the ‘wicked problems’ literature, often seen as complex, open-ended, and intractable, with both the nature of the ‘problem’ and the preferred ‘solution’ being strongly contested. It contextualises the debate using a wide range of relevant policy examples, explaining why these issues attract so much attention. There is an increasing interest in the conceptual and practical aspects of how ‘wicked problems’ are identified, understood and managed by policy practitioners. The standard public management responses to complexity and uncertainty (including traditional regulation and market-based solutions) are insufficient. Leaders often advocate and implement ideological ‘quick fixes’, but integrative and inclusive responses are increasingly being utilised to recognise the multiple interests and complex causes of these problems. This book uses examples from a wide range of social, economic and environmental fields in order to develop new insights about better solutions, and thus gain broad stakeholder acceptance for shared strategies for tackling ‘wicked problems’

Neurotransmitter Specific, Cellular-Resolution Functional Brain Mapping Using Receptor Coated Nanoparticles: Assessment of the Possibility.

Receptor coated resonant nanoparticles and quantum dots are proposed to provide a cellular-level resolution image of neural activities inside the brain. The functionalized nanoparticles and quantum dots in this approach will selectively bind to different neurotransmitters in the extra-synaptic regions of neurons. This allows us to detect neural activities in real time by monitoring the nanoparticles and quantum dots optically. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with two different geometries (sphere and rod) and quantum dots (QDs) with different sizes were studied along with three different neurotransmitters: dopamine, gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glycine. The absorption/emission spectra of GNPs and QDs before and after binding of neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors are reported. The results using QDs and nanorods with diameter 25nm and aspect rations larger than three were promising for the development of the proposed functional brain mapping approach

The Effect of Sociability on Socio-spatial Interaction and Learner Social Presence in Mixed-Reality Online Learning Environments: Using Head-mounted Wearable Items in Group Learning Activities

In online learning environments, little is known regarding the effect of head-mounted wearable devices on group learning behavioral outcomes, and the impact the mediated communication type has on socio-spatial interactivity and learner social presence. Interaction and presence are two important concepts that influence group activity. Drawing on social interaction, social presence, and the characteristics of mixed-reality environments, we develop and empirically test hypotheses on the effectiveness of three different types of digitally mediated mixed-reality learning environments