ESRC call for evidence on knowledge and skills needs

ESRC call for evidence on knowledge and skills needs

 
October 2017

The Economic and Research Council (ESRC) is asking for evidence of where they need to build knowledge and skills to improve the UK’s social science capability. They want to hear from researchers and research users across all sectors, including from practitioners as well as academics.

The call is about advanced research skills where the ESRC could help to fund training or support in other ways. The need for knowledge and skills may be a consequence of the way that research approaches and techniques are changing, in response to, for example:

• The growth in the use of ‘big data’
• Anticipated sharing of admin datasets held by public bodies, encouraged by the Digital Economy Act
• The move to online interviewing of research participants – both quantitative and qualitative
• The perceived ‘crisis’ of the traditional face-to-face random probability survey, and proposed solutions eg. ‘push to web’
• Increased use of social media analysis

The knowledge need not only be methodological - some of these changes raise profound ethical questions (which are already being discussed and debated, but this could perhaps benefit from ESRC support).

The focus of the call is on ‘senior level’ knowledge and skills, rather than junior / entry level. And they want to cite existing evidence – which could include reports, reviews, publications, feedback, and data.

Please read the full details of the call on the ESRC website: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-events-and-publications/news/news-items/knowledge-and-skills-needs-call-for-evidence/

The Social Research Association aims to bring together a range of responses from members and others to deliver to the ESRC before the deadline of 31 October this year. Please write to admin@the-sra.org.uk no later than 25 October and title your email ‘ESRC Call for Evidence’.