Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Longitudinal Research

In June we will launch the latest Making the Case for the Social Sciences booklet, which highlights important recent longitudinal research into education, health and other social issues.

Speakers at the launch include David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, and Polly Toynbee, writer and Guardian columnist.

The event is sponsored by the publishers SAGE, whose Global Publishing Director, Ziyad Marar, will address the event, which is chaired byProfessor Cary Cooper, Chair of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Important research presented in the book includes work which:

– inspired government to set up a state-funded, part-time, pre-school place for every three- and four-year-old

– helped to ensure that care leavers now have a much better chance of going to university and getting a degree than they had 10 years ago

– reveals the important role that grandparents have in caring for their grandchildren when the family is in crisis

Two academics whose work is summarised in the booklet will talks about their research: Professor Heather Joshi AcSS, of the Institute of Education, and Professor Diana Kuh, Director of the MRC Unit of Lifelong Health and Ageing.

Professor Joshi will talk about how she used data from two longitudinal studies to examine how a child’s development is affected if the mother worked during the child’s pre-school years.

Professor Kuh will talk about her work collecting data from a cohort study showing how careers, income, divorce and obesity levels of people are influenced by their early lives.

This is the eight booklet in the series, each summarising research that has had a direct benefit for society. Previous topics include crime, climate change, ageing, management and sport. The booklets are used to publicise the power of social science to influence government policy and the public’s perceptions of important social issues.

To find out more information about the launch, contact Tony Trueman