Social Science Space

Most institutions see the market as the only legitimate form of organization, but different visions towards public policy, some involving artificial intelligence, have been the subject of consideration from academics and politicians alike. Under what circumstances, and to what extent, could artificial intelligence replace the market as the end-all guiding force in crafting reasonable public policy? Brexit may play a leading role in the transition.

Creators and participants in the Evidence Synthesis Hackathon ask what’s the solution to coping with the increasing volume of evidence needed to build effective, solid policy? They argue that technology is the key. With accessible software tools and workflows, machines can be left to do the laborious work so that people can focus on planning, thinking and doing.

In what’s been billed as “the first step in a longer process of ensuring the government is fully invested in using science to improve the effectiveness of its operations,” on January 14 President Trump signed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.

“The question we must therefore ask is: are we all really working to the best available picture of what is going on in the world?” So asks a new report that summarizes the themes discussed in June’s first-ever Evidence Week.

Africa has a real challenge when it comes to using academic research and evidence to design policies. “The problem is twofold,” says author Ruth Stewart, “policymakers sometimes don’t call on available research, while for their part academics don’t know how to engage with policymakers.” But this isn’t stopping the continent from taking strides in the right direction.

New Video highlighting the July 19th session held at the Brookings Institution on the new 2018 volume of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Featuring Sen. Todd Young (R) & Sen. Tom Carper (D), assessing how ‘evidence in public policy is faring, currently, in the Trump administration.

We need to bridge the gap between academic research and public policy. Sarah Quarmby takes a look inside a knowledge brokering organization, the Wales Centre for Public Policy, to see how its day-to-day workings tally with the body of knowledge about evidence use in policymaking.

The head of Sense about Science discusses the importance of public reasoning and accountability and why the first ever Evidence Week is a timely response to the changing demands of meeting those ideals, especially among politicians and policymakers. 

Ziyad Marar, the president of global publishing for SAGE, explains how SAGE’s values and its mission “to build bridges to knowledge” overlap with the intent of the United Kingdom’s Evidence Week, which takes place later this June.

There is no doubt that good communications and framing research for your audience is important to influencing policy and having impact. But shouldn’t we be aiming higher than producing and packaging research that simply meets the demands of policy actors? James Georgalakis argues that research and researchers need to challenge dominant paradigms and expose inconvenient truths.

Tina Basi and Mona Sloane argue that REF 2021 offers the opportunity to frame a discussion on the purpose of universities that is less focused on economics and more focused on people and public engagement, returning closer to the Humboldtian model of higher education.

You’d be forgiven for assuming a quick and sure way to multiply profits and amplify organizational success is to increase the gender and racial diversity of any group. According to mainstream media, the effects of gender and racial diversity are universally favorable. However, professor Alice Eagly states, “the truth is there’s no adequate scientific basis for these newsworthy assertions.”