Many claim to be seeking “what works” when looking for the solutions that will meet certain social goals.  This quest for evidence-based policies, programmes and practice has gained a renewed momentum, with the Cabinet Secretary...

  Following last week’s announcement of the Alliance for Useful Evidence, Professor Jonathan Shepherd writes a guest blog on how increasing the demand for rigorous evidence will involve capitalising on the instinct of all decision makers....

  We are delighted to announce that we are working with the ESRC – and others – to create an Alliance for Useful Evidence. As the past few days have shown there are a number of...

  “You say “evidence”. Well, there may be evidence. But evidence, you know, can generally be taken two ways” – Dostoevsky, Crime & Punishment, 1866 The blogs over the past two weeks have demonstrated that embedding...

  We have talked about the need for more and better use of evidence, but this does not always mean commissioning costly academic research. Instead we can find new ways of utilising the information already available...

  Not everybody thinks that evidence is the most important thing in the world. But most would recognise that knowing whether a programme of intervention is going to be harmful to them, their family or friends,...

  Research, evidence and data do not exist in a vacuum.  To influence decision making, sources of information have to compete with a myriad of other factors, ranging from political pressure, lobbyists, public opinion, ideology and...

  Most people would recognise that we need to improve how we measure the impact of services and programmes. Yet what do we do when an evaluation brings back negative findings? In the quest for ‘what...

  Despite decades of producing excellent research its use in decision-making remains limited in many areas of social policy and practice. The answer may not always be generating and gathering more evidence, rather we should focus...

  There is much contention around the use of Randomised Control Trials (RCTS), with examples of their use being blocked or vetoed. Yet if used correctly they can be one of the most powerful tools in...

  As an agency tasked with stimulating innovation in the UK a question we’re frequently asked is “How can you both stimulate innovation and have an evidence agenda?” We would argue that evidence is a vital...

  Since the 1990s the term “evidence-based” has become a central part of public policy discourse in the UK. Yet despite the term becoming common parlance we lack an agreed understanding of what it actually means....