research design

The support older people want and the services they need

What barriers are preventing older people from accessing practical every-day services and what improvements can be made in assessing their needs and providing these services? The authors argue that public services can only help older people to lead fuller lives if there are local collaborations of paid staff, politicians, service providers and older people themselves.

Data use in voluntary and community organisations

This study assesses the need and demand within voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) for relevant, analysed and well-presented data to support their work tackling poverty. The poverty agenda has shifted away from ‘top-down’ action by central government towards the engagement of local voluntary and community organisations. As small, independent groups with their own ideas about tackling poverty, VCOs represent a powerful, ‘bottom-up’ approach.

Data use in voluntary and community organisations

This study assesses the need and demand within voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) for relevant, analysed and well-presented data to support their work tackling poverty. The poverty agenda has shifted away from ‘top-down’ action by central government towards the engagement of local voluntary and community organisations. As small, independent groups with their own ideas about tackling poverty, VCOs represent a powerful, ‘bottom-up’ approach.

Older people 'getting things done': Involvement in policy and planning initiatives

The involvement of older people in planning and evaluating services is high on the agenda for many organisations. Using different case studies, this report: maps out the ways in which older people got involved, offering ideas for other organisations and for older people themselves; explores the key issues that need consideration; draws out good practice from the schemes studied; highlights how older people took part because they wanted to make a difference, not just as a way to pass the time.

Assessing illicit drugs in wastewater

This report presents a number of contributions that relate to analysing communal wastewaters for drugs and their metabolic products in order to estimate their consumption in the community. This area of work is developing in a multidisciplinary fashion, involving scientists working in different research areas. For this reason, the contributions to this publication come from a variety of different perspectives including: analytical chemistry, physiology and biochemistry, sewage engineering, spatial epidemiology and statistics, and conventional drug epidemiology.

SCIE Research resource 03: SCIE Systematic mapping guidance (Draft)

Systematic mapping is a transparent technique for describing research literature on a broad topic. It allows us to take stock of the research available in any given area of social care, so that we can decide how to develop it. A map provides both a searchable database for researchers and policy makers, and a stand-alone piece of work describing the literature on that topic.

The support needs of children and young people who have to move home because of domestic abuse : research report

Report of a study which explored the experiences of children and young people compelled to leave homes where domestic abuse has occurred and move to alternative housing. It records their views of the services and support they received and what other services they would have liked.

Pathways to work from incapacity benefits: a study of referral practices and liaison between Jobcentre Plus advisers and service providers

This report presents findings from a qualitative research project carried out as part of a wider evaluation of Jobcentre Plus Pathways to Work. The study was conducted in 2007 and 2008 to explore referral practices and liaison amongst Jobcentre Plus staff and service providers involved in helping incapacity benefits recipients move towards, and into, paid employment. The study was led by the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York in collaboration with the Policy Studies Institute and the National Centre for Social Research.

Delivering Succession Strategies

This research reviews the experiences of case study partnerships in developing appropriate arrangements for succession. This report sits alongside other strands of NDC National Evaluation research,including practice studies on ‘Working with Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Area Agreements’, ‘Community Elections’, and case study research on community engagement in NDCs.