Policy Hub
There is much debate around what constitutes evidence and how it should best be used. Whilst it is in no way exhaustive the following will provide you with useful additional sources to follow current discussion in this area.
| Contents The list below is organised into two sections. The first section comprises resources that provide a broad examination of evidence based approaches and issues. The rest of the list has been organised thematically around discrete policy areas. We will add further items to the list as we identify them. If there are key texts that you know of that are not on this list please let us know. Please contact your organisation or local library to borrow or obtain copies of the texts listed. Web links have been provided where available. |
||
Achieving evidence-based practice in UK public service: from dissemination to diffusion by S. M. Nutley and H. T. O. Davies. University of St. Andrews, 1999.
Assessing the quality of evidence in evidence-based policy: why, how, and when? by Ray Pawson. University of Manchester, 2003. (ESRC Research Methods Programme Working Paper: 1) - presents a critique of systematic review techniques/approaches and argues in favour of continued open and critical debate on the interpretation of research findings. However, the author describes Assessing quality in qualitative evaluation (624kb) as 'undoubtedly the most comprehensive study of quality'
Essential ingredients: improving the quality of policy advice. New Zealand State Services Commission, 1999 - prepared as part of the New Zealand State Services Commission's project 'Improving the Quality of Policy Advice'. It examines ways of improving the quality of inputs to the policy process including information and research, evaluation, consultation and co-ordination.
Information gap by David Walker. In: Guardian, 27 July 2001, p21 - highlights the importance of building an effective knowledge base within Whitehall to enable the Government to measure the extent to which its policies are working.
Making a reality of evidence-based practice: some lessons from the diffusion of innovations by Sandra M. Nutley and Huw T. O. Davies. In: Public money and management, 20, (4), Oct-Dec 2000, p33-42 - if research evidence is to have a significant impact on public sector policy and practice, there needs to be strategies in place which encourage the uptake and utilisation of evidence. Examines lessons gleaned from an examination of the literature on the diffusions of innovations.
Place Randomized Trials - the Campbell Collaboration held a conference on Place Randomized Trials at Bellagio, Italy in November 2002. A follow-up briefing conference was held at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York on 18 December 2003. The powerpoint presentations, with related papers and the Place Randomized Trial bibliography, can be viewed on the NY Briefing Conference section of the Campbell Collaboration website.
Professional Policymaking in the 21st Century: report by Strategic Policy Making Team. Cabinet Office, 1999.
The Seven enemies of evidence-based policy by G Leicester. In: Public money and management, 19, (1), Jan-March 1999, p5-7 - puts forwards ideas for defeating, or at least containing, the seven enemies of evidence-based policy; (Bureaucratic logic, the 'bottom line', consensus, politics, civil service culture, cynicism, time, or the lack if it).
What works: evidence-based policy and practice in public services edited by Huw T. O. Davies, Sandra M. Nutley & Peter C. Smith, foreword by Ron Amann, Director General, CMPS. The Policy Press, 2000, ISBN 1 86134 191 1
Evidence-based corrections: identifying what works by D. L. MacKenzie. In: Crime & delinquency, 46, (4), Oct 2000, p457-471 - describes an assessment technique designed by the University of Maryland to assess the effectiveness of correctional strategies, interventions and programmes.
Experimentation and criminal justice policies in the United Kingdom by Nick Tilley. In: Crime and delinquency, 46, (2), April 2000, p194-213 - provides an illustration of the use of experimental evaluations in developing evidence-based policy and practice in criminal justice.
Implementing what works with offenders: the Effective Practice Initiative by J. Furniss and Sandra M. Nutley. In: Public money and management, 20, (4), Oct-Dec 2000, p23-28 - describes the main elements of the Effective Practice Initiative which aims to ensure that the practices of the Probation Service are based on best evidence of what works with offenders.
Introducing evidence-based practice: the contrasting experiences of healthcare and probation service organisations in the UK by Sandra M. Nutley and Huw T.O. Davies. In: Public policy and administration, 14, (4), 1999, p39-57 - describes the way in which two public service areas (health and the probation service) have approached the task of introducing evidence-based practice.
Joining up research, policy and practice about crime by Nick Tilley and Gloria Laycock. In: Policy studies, 21, (3), Sep 2000, p 213-227 - describes ways in which members of the policy-making and research communities can facilitate the appropriate production and use of evidence in policy development and practice. Examples relating to property marking and to repeat victimisation are given.
Can and should evidence inform policy and practice in education?: evidence based practices and policies seminar, London, The Royal Society, 22 June 1999: [proceedings] edited by D. Hargreaves. The Royal Society, 1998
Evidence-based practice in education: the best medicine? by A. Pirrie. In: British journal of educational studies, 49, (2), June 2001, p124-136 - explores the reason why the notion of 'evidence-based' practice has gained prominence in educational research.
What is evidence-based education? by P. Davies. In: British journal of educational studies, 47, (2), June 1999, p108-21 - provides a definition of evidence-based education and argues that it is not a panacea but a set of principles and practices for enhancing educational policy and practice.
Active labour market policies: a case of evidence-based policy making? by Peter Robinson. In: Oxford review of economic policy, 16 (1), 2000, p13-25.
What works among active labour market policies: evidence from OECD Countries' experiences by J P Martin. In: OECD economic studies, 30, (1), 2000, p79-114.
The Relevance of Systematic Reviews for Educational Policy and Practice, Oxford Review of Education, Davies, P.T., Vol 26, No.s 3 and 4 , 2000 , pgs 365-378.
Note: The bibliography on evidence-based clinical practice is extensive and only a few texts have been included below to help explain the historical context of evidence-based policy making.
The Evidence-based approach in health policy and health care delivery by L. W. Niessen, E. W. M. Grijseels and F. F. H. Rutten. In: Social science and medicine, 51, (6), Sept 2000, p859-869 - summarises evidence-based approaches in health at three impact levels: intersectoral assessment, national health care policy, and evidence-based medicine in everyday practice.
Evidence-based medicine: what it is and what it isn't by D. L. Sackett, W. Rosenberg, et al. In: British Medical Journal, 312, (7023), 13 Jan 1996, p71-72 - explores the nature of evidence-based medicine.
Evidence-based medicine: the need for a new definition by S. Buetow and T. Kenealy. In: Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 6, (2), May 2000, p85-92 - argues for a new definition of evidence-based medicine that acknowledges dimensions of evidence both within and outside science.
Evidence-based policy-making in the NHS: exploring the interface between research and the commissioning process by U. Harries, H. Elliott and A. Higgins. In: Journal of public health medicine, 21, (1), March 1999, p29-36 - this paper is based on a qualitative study which aimed to identify factors which facilitate or impede evidence-based policy-making at a local level in the NHS.
How are policy makers using evidence?: models of research utilisation and local NHS policy making by H. Elliott and J. Popay. In: Journal of epidemiology and community health, 54, (6), June 2000, p461-468 - this paper is based on a qualitative study that aimed to identify factors that facilitate or impede evidence-based policy making at a local level in the UK National Health Service (NHS). The study highlights the role of sustained dialogue between researchers and the users of research in improving the utilisation of research-based evidence in the policy process
How policy informs the evidence: 'evidence-based' thinking can lead to debased policy making In: British Medical Journal, 27 Jan 2001.
Implementing evidence-based practice in health care by M. Halladay and L. Bero. In: Public money and management, 20, (4), Oct-Dec 200, p43-50 - summarises recent research on the effectiveness of efforts to implement evidence-based health care.
Managed care in the United States: a dilemma for evidence-based policy? by R. Robinson. In: Health economics, 9, (1), Jan 2000, p1-7 - examines and seeks to explain the discrepancy between the poor image of managed care in the United States and the research evidence that demonstrates that managed care has generally performed effectively. Explores the implications for researchers and policy-makers at a time when there is increasing emphasis on an evidence-based approach to health policy.
The Politics of evidence-based medicine in the United Kingdom by S Harrison. In: Policy and politics, 26, (1), Jan 1998, p15-31 - examines critically the assumptions on which evidence-based medicine are based.
The Role of evidence in public sector policy and practice: the rise and rise of evidence in health care by Huw T. O. Davies and Sandra M. Nutley. In: Public money and management, 19, (1), Jan-Mar 1999, p9-16.
Evidence-based practice: a Review for Healthcare Professionals, Dawes, M et al, Churchill Livingstone, 1999
Evidence-based healthcare : how to make health policy and management decisions, Gray J.A.M., Churchill Livingstone, 1997.
Evidence, what evidence? the foundations for housing policy
by D. Maclennan and A. More. In: Public money and management, 19,
(1), Jan-Mar 1999, p17-23.
Housing: linking theory and practice by Joe Doherty, In What Works? Evidence-based policy and practice in public services, P167-188.
Towards evidence-based local government: theory and practice by T. Blackman. In: Local Government Studies, 24, (2), Summer 1998, p56-70 - describes the thinking behind evidence-based practice and explores its use in local government decision making, using case studies of social care and education.
Evidence-based social care: wheels off the runway? by G. Macdonald. In: Public money and management journal, 19, (1), Jan-Mar 1999, p25-32 - describes the implementation of evidence-based approaches to policy and practice within social work within the context of changes to the roles and responsibilities of those who work face-to-face with service users and carers.
The Psycho-social subject in 'evidence-based practice' by W. Holloway. In: Journal of social work practice, 15, (1), May 2001, p9-22 - describes a qualitative method, called the free association narrative interview, which produces evidence that is congruent with the kinds and contexts of knowledge that human service professionals use in their work. Argues that this provides a model of evidence-based practice that is more appropriate and helpful for professional development.
Some considerations on the validity of evidence-based practice in social work by S. A. Webb. In: British journal of social work, 31, (1), Feb 2001, p57-79 - discusses the validity of evidence-based practice in social work. Critically examines various underlying presuppositions and assumptions entailed in evidence-based practice and draws out their implications for social work.
What works for children: the political issues by M. Glass. In: Children and Society, 15, (1), Jan 2001, p14-20 - describes recent developments in UK politics that have had an impact on the development of evidence-based policy for children.
Social care: rhetoric and reality by Geraldine Macdonald. In: What Works? Evidence-based policy and practice in public services, p117-140
Welfare policy: tendering for evidence by Robert Walker. In: What Works? Evidence-based policy and practice in public services, p141-167
The Impact of evidence on transport policy-making: the case of road construction by F. Terry. In: Public money and management, 19, (1), Jan-Mar 1999, p41-46.
Transport: beyond predict and provide by Francis Terry. In What Works? Evidence-based policy and practice in public services, P189-206.
Urban policy: addressing wicked problems by Tony Harrison. In
What Works? Evidence-based policy and practice in public services.