While scholars develop research with clear implications for policy and practice, this work has been largely ineffective in influencing thought beyond the academy. In this article, we explore challenges researchers face in designing public scholarship to influence policy. To illustrate, we profile one such effort, the "Opportunity to Learn…

This paper addresses the issue of how local and global norms and requirements are negotiated in the early stages of development of Social Science research ethics policy in a Global South context. A review of relevant literature followed by analysis of relevant national and institutional policies highlights both tensions and creative potential for…

Researchers are combining self-reports from mobile surveys with passive data collection using sensors and apps on smartphones increasingly more often. While smartphones are commonly used in some groups of individuals, smartphone penetration is significantly lower in other groups. In addition, different operating systems (OSs) limit how mobile data…

The Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) tested a $1 reduction in benefits per $2 earnings increase above the level at which Social Security Disability Insurance benefits drop from full to zero under current law. BOND included a rare and large "population-representative" experiment: It applied the rule to a nationwide, random…

In this paper we make a case for 'Little Data', which is real-time, self-collected, idiosyncratic datasets maintained by individuals about themselves on myriad topics. We develop and offer a methodology for combining these messy, highly personal insights, to make deductive observations about collective practices. In testing this approach, we use…

Becker (1967) poses the question "Whose side are we on?," a question which has become an enduring part of discussions within social scientific methodology. This paper explores the key issues in Becker's argument and considers its relevance to researchers today, locating this within a consideration of evaluation-based research and policy.…

Utilising a case study of evidence-based policy (EBP) commissioned by government we explore how academic outputs can serve several purposes, depending on the political milieu and the values and ideologies of any given party. Our commissioned research was being carried out in the context of significant policy change for lone parents in Ireland…

In this essay, Gerardo R. López, a non-undocumented immigrant scholar, who has done extensive research with undocumented immigrant communities, has a conversation with Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola, an undocumented immigrant scholar with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), who writes and researches issues of how undocumented immigrant…

This research note discusses opportunities and challenges of using online survey engines for social network analysis (SNA) data collection and assessing sample size and representativeness. The discussion is based on a case study of SNA data collection for a pilot research on health-relevant policy networks in Canada. Our approach demonstrates how…

Voucher proponents have increasingly pursued empirical evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers as a form of education improvement, in addition to advocating for vouchers on moral or ethical grounds. Voucher proponents contend that randomized assignment studies of students in voucher programs have consistently confirmed the effectiveness of…

This article sets out to look critically at the use of systematic reviews in the cross-disciplinary field of early childhood and international development. Systematic reviews--a specialist methodology involving the secondary analysis of existing knowledge on a particular topic--is prevalently used to address complex questions in social and…

While the methods used to study 'elites' are of particular relevance in policy research, to date there has been little examination of the particular challenges associated with 'elite' interviewing in this field. More specifically, the issues associated with interviewing 'elites' while conducting qualitative research in a contested policy domain,…

In recent years, counter-terrorism measures have become incorporated into the UK education system, with the latest 2015 "Counter-Terrorism and Security Act" expanding on previous government policy by making it mandatory for schools to be actively involved with counter-terrorism measures [Clause 21, H.M. Government 2015.…

This paper presents a case study on the transfer of research into policy and describes how evidence was used to inform, develop, frame and ultimately agree a national strategy for research and data on children's lives in Ireland. The paper highlights key issues arising in the research-policy exchange, but also argues that evidence on its own,…

This article evaluates the validity of "theories of change" of anti-polarisation and anti-radicalisation interventions. Assumptions of four dominant social policies are confronted with the literature. In addition, epistemological issues are discussed. Notions of "what works and why", do not equate to straightforward…