Using evidence to improve policy and practice
The UK What Works Centres
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13041389 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dan Bristow (0000-0002-2179-9013, Cardiff University), Lauren Carter (0000-0002-8891-731X, Cardiff University), Steve Martins (0000-0002-1883-5837, Cardiff University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 126-137 |
| Publication date | 2015-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2041 • E-ISSN: 2158-205X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061688 |
| OpenAlex | W1822943689 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 30 |
The creation of a network of What Works Centres in the UK reflects a belief that the provision of high-quality evidence can improve public policy decisions. The literature on evidence-based policy suggests that rational, technocratic models belie the complex and contested nature of the policy process and that What Works Centres are likely to face a number of challenges as they seek to synthesise and mobilise knowledge. Wide variations are found between the What Works Centres in terms of their resources, the evidence standards they use, their audiences and approaches to transmitting evidence. Tracking their development and their impact over time should, therefore, provide valuable insights about ‘what works’ in promoting evidence-based policy and practice. In particular, it may shed further light on what counts as ‘robust’ and ‘useful’ evidence, and what are the most effective means of mobilising research-based knowledge, thereby enhancing our understanding of the contribution that social science research can make to policy and practice
Empirical evidence · Epistemology · Evidence-based policy · Evidence-based practice · Face (sociological concept · Policy analysis · Political science · Politics · Process (computing · Public policy · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Social science · Sociology · Technocracy · Computer Science · Data Analysis and Archiving · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Law · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Public Administration
Cultivating ‘communities of practice’ to tackle civic policy challenges
Internal ministerial advisory bodies
Promises and pitfalls of evidence-based policymaking
The McDonaldisation of police–academic partnerships
Can experience be evidence? Craft knowledge and evidence-based policing
Revisiting the Base in Evidence-Based Policy
Use of systematic literature reviews in Canadian government departments
Evidence-based policy
Institutionalising evidence-based policy
The state of British policymaking
Nurturing the buffer zone
Political and ethical dilemmas in multi-agency participatory research
Evidence based medicine
Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising
Evidence based policy
Grade
Systematic reviews of health effects of social interventions
An exploration of evidence-based policy in Ireland
Government, knowledge and the business of policy making
Deliberative processes and evidence-informed decision making in healthcare
Evidence and policy
Systems thinking, knowledge and action
Linking research and policy in Dutch healthcare
Policy makers’ perceptions on the use of evidence from evaluations
Producing and consuming knowledge in social work practice
Linking research, policy and practice in welfare services and education in Norway
Does more evidence lead to better policy
Evidence, hierarchies, and typologies
Public Health Asks of Systems Science
The Many Meanings of Research Utilization
Policy analytical capacity and evidence‐based policy‐making
Using Random Allocation to Evaluate Social Interventions
Reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies
Years of public management reform in UK central government – promises, promises
Realist randomised controlled trials
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,09 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |