Research for
Social Policy
SW23A/SOWK2004
1
Objectives
Understanding the research process
 Examining the reasons for using research
in social policy
 Discussing the results of conducting
research in social policy

Challenges for Jamaica’s elderly
Income security issue.*
Health issues.**
Access to buildings
 Engagement of seniors in daily life.
 Higher
technological/diagnostic tests placing
pressure on the aged-threatening their life savings.
 Spousal support
 Living arrangements (alone)
 Poverty
 Prevalence of chronic diseases, frailty and
disabilities.



* Seniors spending pension on food instead of medication
**17% of older population receives PATH payments.
Cost of Education in Jamaica
Budgetary Sources
 Cost Per Child:

Secondary:

Primary:
 Tertiary:
 Special Education:

$101,200
$85,000
$240,000
$215,817
Jamaica’s Capital Budget-$162.1B-MoE-$2.8b
 Recurrent Budget-$70.5B
 Other Sources: Multi-Lateral-1.5B/yr, Private


4
Source: Education Statistics 2010/2011
Distribution of Jamaican women in the
Reproductive ages (15-49), estimates
Age Group
2007
2008
2009
2010
15-19
122300
(16.6%)
121400
(16.4%)
121800
(16.3%)
122100
(16.2%)
20-24
107800
(14.6%)
106900
(14.4%)
107200
(14.3%)
107500
(14.3%)
25-29
112800
(15.3%)
113200
(15.3%)
113200
(15.1%)
113500
(15.1%)
30-34
115200
(15.7%)
116700
(15.7%)
117700
(15.7%)
118200
(15.7%)
35-39
117100
(15.9%)
119800
(16.1%)
122200
(16.3%)
122600
(16.3%)
40-44
95100
(12.9%)
97300
(13.1%)
99200
(13.2%)
99600
(13.2%)
45-49
66000
(9.0%)
67100
(9.0%)
68000
(9.1%)
68300
(9.1%)
Total
736,300
742,400
749,300
751,800
Source: STATIN
Poverty in the Caribbean
• Surveys of living conditions conducted
in many Caribbean countries between
1996 and 2002 provide a basis for
assessing the incidence of poverty in
the subregion.
• The surveys measure both income or
monetary poverty and non-income
poverty
(e.g.
self-esteem,
selfdetermination, voice etc.).
Poverty in the Caribbean
• Poverty measured by the ability to
finance a basic consumption basket of
food and non-food items such as
education, housing and transportation.
• Haiti and Suriname are at the high end
of the spectrum of poverty incidence
with an estimated 65% and 63%
respectively of the populations below
the poverty line.
Poverty in the Caribbean
• Clustered in the 30% - 40% group are
Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts
and Nevis and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines.
• Between 20% and 29% are Anguilla, British
Virgin Islands, St. Lucia, Trinidad and
Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
• Barbados had a poverty rate of 14% in
1997.
Poverty in the Caribbean
• The surveys do not include the US
Virgin Islands but on a US relative
standard measure there might be a
socially unacceptable incidence of
poverty.
Poverty in the Caribbean
• Jamaica moved from 24% poverty in
1993 to 20% in 2002 to 16.9% in 2009;
Guyana from 43% in 1993 to 35% in
1999.
• In some other countries, the situation
has deteriorated as a consequence of
severe external economic shocks and
natural hazard occurrences.
•
Source: Bourne, C. (2005) . Poverty and its Alleviation in the
Caribbean in the Alfred O. Heath Distinguished Speakers Forum,
University of the Virgin Islands.
Research for Social Policy

Concerned with understanding social
reality, social problems and needs (Becker
and Bryman, 2005)

To provide answers and evidence that
help
to
improve
policy
design,
implementation and enhance welfare.
11
Research for Social Policy

Essential to policy making efforts
 Answers
question “who”, “what”, “where”,
“How” and “why”
 To
identify social problems
 Prevalence
-%
 Incidence – how many new cases occurring
 Distribution – gender, SES, race
 Intensity – severity
Spicker (2008) Chap 3
12
Research for Social Policy
 Measuring
social needs – e.g. needs
assessments.
Value judgments and expert opinion important
in determining need and preference between
several different states .
Spicker (2008) Chap 4


Helps to identify social interventions required
and monitors and evaluates them.
13
The Research Process
Statement of the Research Question or
Problem
 Define Methodology
 Select Sample Design
 Collect Data
 Analyse and Interpret results/data
 Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

14
Approaches to Research
 Inductive
Approach
 Begins by collecting information/data and
then looks for relationships or patterns to
inform a theoretical perspective

Deductive Approach
 Begins with theory, collects data to test
hypotheses, confirm/modify theory
15
Approaches to Research

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=
player_detailpage&v=rwAJBNryKBI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=
player_detailpage&v=AcgLAFCMHwU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbeD2
0mTTRk&feature=relmfu
Deductive Reasoning
Moves from the general to the specific.
 Starts with a set of premises and draws
conclusions from them.
 All of the premises must be valid or true
for the conclusions to be valid and true.
 If all of the premises are not true then the
argument is said to be unsound.

Deductive Reasoning
Syllogism – A common form of deductive
reasoning.
 All poor people are criminals
 Olivene is poor.
 Therefore Olivene is a criminal.

Inductive Reasoning
Reasoning from detailed facts to general
principles.
 Inductive reasoning is a type of reasoning
wherein the chances of the conclusion
being false are significant even when all
the premises, on which the conclusion is
based, are true.

Inductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning can be categorized
into different types:
Casual inference
False analogy
Generalization
Simple induction
Statistical syllogism
Types of Research

Quantitative (relies largely on deductive
approach)
 Examines quantities (how much, what
extent, what differences)
 Measures effects
 Helps with predictions
21
Types of Research

Qualitative (relies largely on inductive
approach)
 Helps
to explain issues, provide
underlying explanation of behaviours
 Provides richness of meaning
22
Quantitative versus Qualitative

Increasing
research
appreciation
of
qualitative
 Provides
explanations
 Gives “the picture” behind the figures
 Participatory
research allows beneficiary
involvement in policy design/redesign, e.g.
the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation Project
(JASPEV)

Increasing use of mixed methods research
 Both
methods complement each other
23
Qualitative Methodologies
Content /
conversation
analyses
In-depth
interviews
Material culture
analyses
Visual capture
(photography)
Focus
Groups
Trends
analyses
Story-telling
Observations:
non-verbal
communication+
Ranking
Action Research
Case studies
Ethnographies
24
Benefits of Qualitative Research
It allows public bodies to understand a
variety of complex matters: How is existing
policy
understood,
perceived
and
experienced? How successful is it seen to
be? What is thought to need improving or
changing?
 Provides insight into the values and goals of
the target public, and their needs, concerns
and problems.

25
Benefits of Qualitative Research
Can help public bodies to understand which
options for future policy people favour, and
why, and also what are the likely barriers to
successful policy implementation and the
conditions necessary to its success.
 Qualitative research can also help policymakers to understand emergent policy issues –
e.g., statistical evidence may show a growth in
claims for disability benefits, but it will rarely
throw much light on why this is happening.
 It can also get the public to look at alternative
policy options, at different ways forward.

26
Benefits of Qualitative Research
Different
indicators
have
different
and
complementary uses in the identification of poverty
and planning e.g. objective income or consumption
measures can be used to give a picture of the
extent of poverty at national level and can be
aggregated internationally.
 For
analysis and detailed planning, more
qualitative measures and participatory approaches
will be most appropriate. These require
decentralisation and local empowerment.

27
Quantitative Methodologies
Experiments/
Quasi
Experiments
Surveys (i.e. use
of
questionnaires)
28
Formal methods
e.g.
Econometrics
Statistics/
Structural
Equation
Modeling
Benefits of Quantitative
Research



Sifts/Organises data into easily usable
portions
Generalisable findings at the end of the
data analysis process
Reliable and valid if done properly
29
Resources
A good link to critique
and learn about Focus
Group Theory and
Practice.
 video.google.com/vid
eoplay?docid=661757745691283733
5

In order to create
questionnaires, a good
template/ software may
be found at:
http://survey_resource.sta
.cuhk.edu.hk/
 This
site also has
information on research.

Research for Policy

Conceptual Utilization of Research
occurs when research influences how policy
makers or practitioners interpret and think about
a social issue or problem

Instrumental utilization of research- takes
place when policy makers act on findings of
research studies in the design of programs
(Becker and Bryman, 2005; 19)
31
The Evidence-based Policy Culture

Philosophy driving public policy-making – is
this the best policy/programme and is it being
implemented in the most efficient way?.
Why this current thrust?
 Diminished public trust
 Lack of resources force greater efficiencies
 More educated and better informed public
 Public need to understand policies
 Policies need to accord with culture.
32
Why Evidence-based Policy?

Demand for accountability, efficiency and
productivity by the public sector/higher
expectations by the public
PAC, OUR, Contractor General, Auditor General
 IDP requirement
 Budgetary constraints


Improved research capabilities

Greater availability of data,
particularly by IT developments
driven
33
Who uses Evidence/Research?
Policy makers
 Practitioners
 Academics and students
 Governments
 Citizens
 Interest groups/NGOs/CBOs
 Private Sector

34
Some Social Policy Research
Areas
Poverty (impact on families, children)
 Social Exclusion, Inequality
 access
 Housing and Homelessness (Squatting)
 Welfare, Unemployment
 Livelihood systems; Coping Strategies
 Ageing
 Inner-city vulnerability; Urban studies
 Migration and its effects

35
Elements of Evidence-based Policy
Culture
- Better Management of the Public Sector (Public
Sector Reform)



Building capacity of government agencies to collect
and analyze data
Increased collaboration between Ministries, less
duplication e.g. Joined-up government, JASPEV model
Increased scrutiny


Increased Reliance on performance indicators



Inclusive / Participatory / Open
Outcome focused policy making
Innovative approaches to address social issues
Evaluation regimes
36
Examples of Social Policy
Research
Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions
Country Poverty Assessments
Coping Strategies of the Poor – 1999 SLC special
module
 Parenting Assessment and Analysis
 Changing Role of Jamaican Fathers
 “An Assessment of the Standard of Living &
Coping Strategies of Workers in Selected
Occupations who earn a Minimum Wage” – PIOJ




See SES Vol.51, No.4, December 2002

Articles by Henry-Lee, Clarke, Douglas-Ricketts
37
Challenges Faced in the Research Process

Operationalisation of measures: monetary
poverty is less persistent than malnutrition
among adults and stunting among children
(although there is some evidence of “catch-up
among stunted children). Monetary poverty is
also found to be less persistent than primary
and lower secondary school enrolments.
38
Challenges Faced in the Research Process

Values/Political ideology of leaders/ Govt/
researcher bias (Becker & Bryman, 2004)

Usefulness – issues of validity, reliability,
good sample, design

Cost

Inclusiveness – NB: how participants are
selected

Available Capacity / Resources
39
Challenges to Research Process

Timeliness of dissemination of findings

Appreciation / Acceptance of Research
Findings
 Skepticism

Implementation of Recommendations

Ethical considerations

Research as delay tactic (Spicker, 2008).
40
Challenges to Research Process

To achieve a trade-off between measurability –
which requires standardisation – and local
complexity.
41
JSLC
Annual survey to measure standard of
living
 Subset of Quarterly Labour Force Survey,
1/3 sample of April LFS

 Demographic
characteristics
 Anthropometrics
 Consumption and Poverty headcount
 Housing
 Education, Health
 Social Protection/Welfare
 Special Topics – Coping Strategies 2009
42
JSLC – Sampling Design

Two – Stage Stratified Random Sample
Random Selection of Dwellings
 Face to Face Interviews, 1787 households
in 2009

43
Thinking Point

JSLC measures consumption levels as this
is seen as better indicator of well-being
than income.
Why?
 Note:
http://salises.mona.uwi.edu/databank/JSL
C.htm
44
JSLC
Income fluctuates
 Households smooth out consumption

 Gifts,
own production, credit, postponing
debt, remittances
Informal economy
 Honesty?

Consumption

Two households

HH1 earns a total of $50,000/annum

HH2 earns a total of $100,000/annum

Which household is doing better?
JSLC
Data on consumption collected and
summed to get Annual Total
 Divided
by number of persons in
Households – Per capita income
 Per-capita income sorted, smallest to
largest.
 Individuals are divided into five equal
groups – quintiles
 Quintile 1 – poorest, Quintile 5- richest

47
JSLC Poverty Line

Absolute Poverty – a situation where persons
are unable achieve physical sustenance
 46%
of World Pop in 2000 living on less than
$2/day, 20% less than $1 day, (Dean, 2008;47)

Relative Poverty – determined by comparison
with national averages, e.g. SLC quintiles or
% of mean income. Also measures deprivation
in terms absence of resources required to
participate in society, e.g. access to adequate
housing,
sanitation,
health,
education,
freedoms
JSLC Poverty Line

Jamaica’s poverty line combines an absolute
and relative approach to poverty measurement

A low-cost food basket that will provide required
nutrients/calories to sustain health is developed,
costed and annualised, (prices are adjusted each
year for inflation).

That food basket is used to develop the food
poverty or the indigence line which is an
absolute measure of poverty.
JSLC Poverty Line

The spending patterns of the quintiles 1 and 2 are measured
and the distribution of expenditure between food and non
food items is determined. The ratio of the food share of
expenditure is calculated
E.g 60% of total expend for quintiles 1 & 2 is on food
 Food Share 60% =
Total food expend
Total Consumption Expenditure
Total expenditure = Food expend/Indigent line
0.60
For example if the food poverty line was $39,000
Poverty line =
39,000 = $65,000
0.60
(Williams, C. 2009)

JSLC Poverty Line

Poverty Headcount or Rate was 16.5% in
2009. The Headcount indicates what % of
pop falls below poverty line but does not
indicate how far below they are (Severity).

The Poverty Gap indicates the severity of
poverty by indicating the difference between
the poverty line and individuals’ actual income
levels.
JSLC
Education
 Access at each level

 Early
Childhood Development,
 Primary,
 Secondary (First Cycle and Second cycle),
 Tertiary

Equity
 Gender
 Region
 Quintile
Education/Health
Quality/Performance
Results of Standardised tests (ESSJ)

Health
Access to service and insurance, (Utilization
of private/public)
Incidence of illness
Equity (Gender, Quintile, Region)
New Initiatives to enhance quality in both
sectors (ESSJ)
Bibliography
Bourne, C. (2005) . Poverty and its
Alleviation in the Caribbean in the Alfred O.
Heath Distinguished Speakers Forum,
University of the Virgin Islands.
 http://www.caribank.org
 The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (2010)
The Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica
 The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (2008)
The Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica
 World Population Day 2011 Conference notes
