The UK riots: one year on.

A year ago I blogged in the immediate aftermath of the UK riots by highlighting the 'broom army'. Slowly, more analysis emerged; sometimes biased , sometimes contradictory, always troubling. The one year anniversary of the rioting has provided another opportunity to reflect. It is a particularly interesting time to reflect on such upsetting events whilst in the midsts of what has (so far!) been a wildly successful London Olympics.

On this morning's Today programme there were two pieces on the 2011 riots.
One gave a voice to the rioters themselves, whereas the other interviewed Chief Constable, Ian Learmonth.

I've got more pieces I'd like to share with you on the analysis of the 2011 riots, but I'll spread them out over the next few weeks.

The library catalogue is dead; long live Discover.

First thing's first-nobody panic. OK?

Take deep breaths and put the kettle on if that'll help.

Ready?

Now. I've got some big news for you-the library catalogue is being replaced by a newer, better, simpler, smarter and sexier interface called Discover. It's all coming via one simplified search box, courtesy of EBSCO.

And it's really good.

If you've used any of EBSCO's databases before then the look of Discover won't phase you in the slightest. But the advantages are that you can search across books and journals via one search box.

If you're a returning first or second year I'll be demonstrating Discover to you in induction sessions when you return. I'm just mentioning it now so it's less of a shock come the new term and rest assured that although it's new it's also very easy to use - you'll be finding things within minutes! If you want to email me with any concerns or questions at this stage then feel free. I really don't mind.

New domestic violence statistics

On Saturday 23rd The Guardian reported that domestic violence conviction rates are at an all time high by writing this. The improvement has in part been explained by the efforts of Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, who when appointed instigated a four year plan to improve things.

There are some interesting statistics mentioned in there so I'd take a look if it's an area that interests or concerns you.

Major new report on household income published

Any long term readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an organisation focussing on poverty in the UK and publishing many high quality reports on related topics.

Well they've produced another very interesting piece of work, examining wages and how it relates to standards of living. What the new report does is look at how much money a family of four requires to maintain a Minimum  Income Standard (MIS) and predicts how forthcoming changes to tax credits will put more families under financial strain.

The research method involved talking to 21 focus groups and reveals some very interesting data concerning what are considered 'essentials' to modern life. To take a look at the full-text just click here and follow the links. There was also a debate on the Today Programme this morning and you can listen to the discussion from here.

It's well worth a look and listen.

The Welfare State discussed on the Moral Maze this week

Hello.
First thing's first; in case you've never come across it before The Moral Maze is a discussion programme on Radio 4. The format is 3 or 4 people with opposing views discuss an issue and 'witnesses' are called during the debate to highlight specific issues. It's often quite 'lively'.

The programme last night was a discussion of what and who the welfare state is now for.

It's very good and covers many issues which I know you'll have discussed in lectures.

According to iplayer the link to the show is permanent, but I'd click here and have a listen soon-just in case!

Randomised Control Trials pt 2...

Yesterday I wrote a post on Ben Goldacre's government funded report looking into how RCT's can be used in the sphere of social policy.

This morning Goldacre was on the Today programme talking about the report so I thought I'd send you the link to the audio.

So here it is.

Evidence Based Practice and Public Policy - the future

Hello again. I know you may be having a well deserved rest from studying at the moment, but I've got something that I think is worth sharing...

One of my favourite people to follow on Twitter is a man called Ben Goldacre, a doctor and writer who's best known for his Bad Science column, originally published in the Guardian. He specialises in attacking the misuse of statistics, often by the media.

I mention this because he, along with three other experts, has written a new report for the Cabinet Office on how Randomised Control Trials (RCT's) can be implemented in areas of Public Policy. In case you're new to research skills RCT's are where you basically take two (well, usually two) groups and introduce some particular stimulus (for example, participation in a particular drug rehab programme for people suffering with drug problems) for half the participants.


The 'random' part of dividing the RCT's population into groups is crucial. Without that element you'll often get a skewed result due to volunteers being positively biased to succeed to begin with. At the end of the trial you try and ascertain whether the drug programme group are healthier/happier/ than the control group who haven't taken part in the programme. In a nutshell, this supposedly simple method is what we call 'evidence based practice'.

The new report looking into how RCT's can be used in the area of Public Policy is called 'Test, Learn, Adapt'. I think it's really interesting and thankfully it's pretty straightforward to comprehend. Read or download it from here.

I'll happily talk to you about statistics and research methods if you need assistance with that side of things. At the very least I can suggest some decent resources to make the issues clearer.

Right. You can get back to your summer now...