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A Systematic Review of Comparative Studies of Attitudes to Social Policy

Sundberg, Trude, Taylor-Gooby, Peter (2013) A Systematic Review of Comparative Studies of Attitudes to Social Policy. Social Policy & Administration, 47 (4). pp. 416-433. ISSN 0144-5596. (doi:10.1111/spol.12027) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:35901)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spol.12027

Abstract

Systematic review (SR) is often promoted as a 'best practice' method to inform both policy-making and policy-evaluation in social policy in the light of the ever-growing volume of research. This article considers an innovative use of the method to advance and refine academic knowledge and illustrates this through a small-scale study of the literature on attitudes to welfare. SR relies on rapid, structured searches of large quantities of material. However, the method has encountered criticism. The article calls for a greater degree of reflection in terms of possible bias in SRs. A pilot using tools from SR methodology to survey attitudes towards social policy is used to demonstrate the problems. These include the US bias of major databases, and weaker reporting of book publications than of articles. SR may help to advance knowledge in social policy, but researchers need to be aware of its weaknesses and possible biases.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/spol.12027
Uncontrolled keywords: Attitudes, Social policy, Systematic review, Welfare, comparative study, database, knowledge, policy making, social policy, welfare provision
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 31 Oct 2013 14:56 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:12 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/35901 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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