What produces a happy society and a happy life? Richard Layard and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve suggest that through the new science of wellbeing, we can now answer this question empirically. Explaining how wellbeing can be measured, what causes it, and how it…
Category: Evidence for Policy
Three Reasons we should place a higher value on Meta-Research
Research is often reported on and assessed in singular, rather than aggregate terms. For example, single papers, datasets and findings. As a debate around the way research syntheses are valued within national research systems, such as the REF, continue…
What are social structural explanations?
Social structures are often invoked as the cause of various problems in society. In this post, Lauren N. Ross discusses how social structural causes can be understood as constraints and why clarity on this point is not just a problem of definition, but…
Researchers engaging with policy should take into account policymakers’ varied perceptions of evidence
There is often an assumption in evidence based policy, that evidence means the findings of quantitative studies or randomised control trials. However, in practice evidence is often understood differently. Drawing on a study of Welsh policy actors, Elea…
2022 in review: Practising Research Impact
The ways in research shapes and influences the wider world are a key focus of the LSE Impact Blog. This post brings together eleven of the top posts on the subject of research impact that featured on the LSE Impact Blog in 2022. The true costs of knowl…
From early career to senior academic, there are many ways researchers can engage with policy
Drawing on research from their recently published edited collection, Syahirah Abdul Rahman, Lauren Tuckerman and Tim Vorley explore the diversity of ways in which academics can engage with policymakers and consider how these interactions can change ove…
To understand the impact of government policies we need a long-term evaluation culture
Policymakers may have ballpark ways to figure out what is ‘going on out there’, but the sure-fire way to know whether a policy is achieving its intended outcomes, for whom, and to learn lessons, is to evaluate. Raj Patel examines the challenges of asse…
Can blogs change the world? Uncovering pathways to policy influence through LSE Blogs
For some academics being asked to write a research blogpost can feel like shouting into the void, another addition to a constantly expanding mass of online content. However, the network of connections that can spring out of these engagements and their …
Navigating co-design and nudge: Evidence and expertise in practice
In a previous blogpost Colette Einfeld and Emma Blomkamp argued bringing together nudges and co-design in practice illuminated fundamental differences underlying these approaches. Reflecting on a project to improve healthy food choices in a hospital se…
Book Review: Horizon Work: At the Edge of Knowledge in an Age of Runaway Climate Change by Adriana Petryna
In Horizon Work: At the Edge of Knowledge in an Age of Runaway Climate Change, Adriana Petryna explores ‘horizoning’ as a conceptual device that sets up new ranges and circumstances for action in the face of climate crisis. Drawing on interviews with e…