Knowledge Exchange Seminars, Series 1
Synopsis Further details of the Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series.
‘Promoting evidence-led policy and law-making within Northern Ireland’ – that is the underlying aim of the upcoming Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series (KESS), jointly sponsored by the Queen’s University of Belfast and the Assembly’s Research and Information Service (RaISe). In an attempt to encourage debate and improve understanding, the Series will provide an opportunity for the presentation of local research findings about diverse social issues faced in various sectors, such as health, social development, education, children/young people and older people.
Seminars will be free and will run on Thursdays from 22 March through 5 July 2012. Each seminar will take place from 1.30-3.30pm in Room 115, Parliament Buildings. Refreshments will be served. Further details of the Seminars, including Policy Briefings and podcasts will be placed on the QUB School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work web pages.
We aim to have a spectrum of attendees, including MLAs and their staff, Assembly staff, public and private sector employees, and academia, together with voluntary and community groups.
Details of the First Series are listed below. Where possible, video recordings, briefing papers and powerpoint presentations have been included.
22 March - Sally Shortall: What counts as ‘evidence’? The complexities of providing evidence to inform public policy [Video]
Evidence-based policy implicitly assumes a linear relationship between research evidence and policy formation. The reality is much more complex. There are power struggles between different groups presenting different interpretations of the world, political ideology is a key driver of policy making, resources are finite, and policies must be palatable with the electorate. This paper will explore the complexities of evidence based policy.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]
6 April - Mike Tomlinson: Defining the breadline. Is there a Northern Ireland consensus? [Video]
Measures of poverty typically combine low income with indicators of deprivation – items and activities that people lack because they cannot afford them. Which deprivation indicators are the important ones for defining poverty is a matter of debate. The seminar will present findings from a population-wide survey of Northern Ireland asking people’s opinion about items and activities that everyone should be able to afford and not have to do without. A total of 76 items and activities were tested and the seminar will explore the degree of consensus within the population on ‘the necessities of life’.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]
10 May* - Lynn Johnston: The life-course, age and intergenerational relations [Video]
Our planet’s changing age demographic has sparked economic debates relating to intergenerational equity and exchanges. This seminar focusses on the social aspects of intergenerational relationships and will present findings from a neighbourhood case study. At the local level, issues which impact on intergenerational relationships are presented around three themes: social exclusion, age discrimination and the legacy of the conflict.
*Please Note: This was rescheduled for Friday, 25 May at the same time and place, ie. 1.30-3.30pm in Parliament Buildings.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]
31 May - Karen Winter: Addressing the educational underachievement of children in care [Video]
It is well known that across the UK and elsewhere children in care have poor educational outcomes in comparison with the child population as a whole. The figures for Northern Ireland indicate that children in care here have the lowest attainment scores in Maths and English. This seminar will present the findings of a study that sought to ascertain the effectiveness of a scheme-the Letterbox Club-in raising attainment levels for primary school children in foster care ages 7-11 years.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]
7 June - Nicola Carr and Karen Winter: Improving court work skills in child care proceedings [Video]
The benefits of an inter-disciplinary approach are evident when working with individuals and families with a range of complex needs, and who have contact with multiple services. This is particularly apposite in the area of child protection and welfare. This seminar will present an overview of an innovative inter-professional training initiative, which focuses on developing court work skills for practice in child care proceedings. The importance of comprehensive evidence-based assessment and competency within the judicial setting is highlighted.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]
28 June - Ann-Marie Doherty: Health in All Policies.
It is well know that health expenditure is costly. The introduction of a “whole of government approach to health” is gaining increasing momentum around the world. We know little about how policy to improve the health of the population gets made and the evidence and influence that has a bearing on this. This seminar focuses on Health in All Policies as an emerging paradigm across Government. It will present findings from a PhD study, where a range of ‘elite’ interviews were carried out with Departmental Officials, Members of the Legislative Assembly and Advisors.
See also: [
Policy Briefing] [
Powerpoint Presentation]
This seminar explores the Government’s current desire to measure the nation’s well-being. Well-being is a complex and nebulous concept and different people will use different words to describe it. While this lack of clarity has not hampered our ability to measure the construct, it does pose significant implications for its use as a public health goal. Based on a conceptual map, we discuss how two different discourses (i.e. the individual and the collective) can shape the types of policies developed, the targets set, and the choice of indicators used and the types of interventions applied to advance well-being.
See also: [Policy Briefing] [Powerpoint Presentation]