Resources

Archive

Evidence in social work: the unfinished and flawed agenda
29 July, 2014
Policy makers and commissioners alike want to identify best evidence. The argument goes that the application of empirical evidence should promote better policies, improve services and promote the more efficient use of resources, but it has...

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Guide to Testing Social Policy Innovation
July 2014
The guide covers (1) Randomised Controlled Trials; (2) Differences-in-Differences; (3) Statistical matching; and (4) Regression Discontinuity Design. A primer for the professional training we ran for the European Commission for the project SPARK, in partnership with...

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Year Two Overview, May 2013 – April 2014
July 2014
An overview of the Alliance's second year. This was an internal report for our funders, which has been made public. It details our achievements over the last year.

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publication
Blog series: How can a What Works Centre for Well-being be useful?
3 July, 2014
At a recent Alliance conference, ‘Evidence and well-being’, attendees explored how well-being initiatives would benefit from a dedicated What Works Centre and how the Centre might work in practice, videos of the presentations can be found here. This...

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1. Putting well-being at the heart of education: all aboard the bandwagon!
3 July, 2014
Adrian Bethune argues that the happiness and well-being of our children should be the main aim and purpose of our education system and a What Works Centre for well-being will lead the way – gathering the...

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2. We need a What Works Centre for Well-being: getting evidence out on to the front line
3 July, 2014
Evaluating a complex community initiative like Well London is always going to be a challenge. A What Works Centre for Well-being would, Alison Pearce argues, help organisations to network and share information – getting evidence out...

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3. Relationships should be at the heart of well-being
3 July, 2014
What drives well-being? Sam Smethers argues that relationships are the key to our well-being and interventions must focus on this if they are to help their clients cope with the challenges they face. Current research focuses...

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article
4. Evidence and well-being: join the campaign to re-balance the way in which we hold schools to account
3 July, 2014
Children with higher levels of well-being do better academically, according to evidence discussed by Joe Hayman, Chief Executive of the PSHE Association. But the balance of accountability in schools is biased towards academic outcomes. We need...

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5. A What Works Centre for Well-being: why does Citizens Advice need to know what works?
3 July, 2014
Our clients have complex lives and well-being can be both a driver for, and a consequence of the problems clients come to see us about. Understanding how far our services can measure and potentially improve well-being...

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6. Evidence and well-being: why we need to listen to local politicians
3 July, 2014
The usual Whitehall default towards centralisation should be avoided so that we include more local voices – including politicians – in any What Works Centre for Well-being because local relationships are deeper and more long term, there...

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article
Hard Evidence: less media spin
26 June, 2014
How dangerous is mental illness? Are young people’s job prospects improving? Do prisons work? Megan Clement introduces Hard Evidence; funded by the Alliance, Hard Evidence tackles some of the public policy questions that dominate the news...

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SPARK session – Testing social policy innovation – Paris
Wednesday 25 June, 2014
Paris
Join us for an information session on exploring methods to test social policy innovation.

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event

The Experimenter’s Inventory: A catalogue of experiments for decision-makers and professionals

Our Impact, 2016 – 2019

Bodies of Evidence: How professional organisations in health, education and policing champion the use of research

Rubbing along: eight lessons for how to work across the UK

Yes, There’s Hope for Good Government in the U.S.

What Works roundtable: devolved nations and collaboration

Explore the UK Evidence Ecosystem for social policy

12 highlights from the What Works Team in the Cabinet Office

Resources

Archive

Evidence in social work: the unfinished and flawed agenda

Guide to Testing Social Policy Innovation

Year Two Overview, May 2013 – April 2014

Blog series: How can a What Works Centre for Well-being be useful?

1. Putting well-being at the heart of education: all aboard the bandwagon!

2. We need a What Works Centre for Well-being: getting evidence out on to the front line

3. Relationships should be at the heart of well-being

4. Evidence and well-being: join the campaign to re-balance the way in which we hold schools to account

5. A What Works Centre for Well-being: why does Citizens Advice need to know what works?

6. Evidence and well-being: why we need to listen to local politicians

Hard Evidence: less media spin

SPARK session – Testing social policy innovation – Paris

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