We don’t need “what works”. We need to know what is working.

Many claim to be seeking "what works" when looking for the solutions that will meet certain social goals.  This quest for evidence-based policies, programmes and practice has gained a renewed momentum, with the Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Haywood's calls for a "NICE for social policy" and the forthcoming creation of an Early Intervention Foundation. Yet we don't want "what works".  What works is bad for innovation, and by extension, bad for service users.

Day 10: Developing a UK Alliance for Useful Evidence

We are delighted to announce that we are working with the ESRC - and others - to create an Alliance for Useful Evidence.

Day 9: Evidence in the real world

"You say "evidence". Well, there may be evidence. But evidence, you know, can generally be taken two ways" - Dostoevsky, Crime & Punishment, 1866

The blogs over the past two weeks have demonstrated that embedding rigorous evidence in decision making is not always a straightforward task. As the above quote shows, this is further complicated by data not always showing a single course of action for decision makers to take.

Day 7: Making the debate relevant

Not everybody thinks that evidence is the most important thing in the world. But most would recognise that knowing whether a programme of intervention is going to be harmful to them, their family or friends, is a big deal.

Day 6: Managing the politics of decision making

Research, evidence and data do not exist in a vacuum.  To influence decision making, sources of information have to compete with a myriad of other factors, ranging from political pressure, lobbyists, public opinion, ideology and personal values. If the research findings clash with the dominant view, how can these factors be managed to embed evidence into decision making?

Day 5: Dealing with negative findings

Most people would recognise that we need to improve how we measure the impact of services and programmes. Yet what do we do when an evaluation brings back negative findings? In the quest for 'what works' do we shy away from discussing what doesn't?

Day 4: Institutionalising the demand for evidence

Despite decades of producing excellent research its use in decision-making remains limited in many areas of social policy and practice. The answer may not always be generating and gathering more evidence, rather we should focus on stimulating the demand for it.

Day 3: Debunking the myths about Randomised Control Trials (RCTs)

There is much contention around the use of Randomised Control Trials (RCTS), with examples of their use being blocked or vetoed. Yet if used correctly they can be one of the most powerful tools in helping test whether a service you receive is effective, or indeed harmful.

Day 2: Enabling evidence and innovation to co-exist

As an agency tasked with stimulating innovation in the UK a question we're frequently asked is "How can you both stimulate innovation and have an evidence agenda?" We would argue that evidence is a vital part of a functioning innovation system. Research and development is, after all, a traditional cornerstone of innovation systems. If we fail to test and experiment with new innovations, how do we know whether they work?

Day 1: Moving beyond discussing evidence based

Since the 1990s the term "evidence-based" has become a central part of public policy discourse in the UK. Yet despite the term becoming common parlance we lack an agreed understanding of what it actually means. What evidence do we need in order to know that a programme "works"? Who does it work for? When and in what situations?