A leading research funder has explored both ¡°the strengths of contemporary UK social science¡± and how the community can ¡°achieve all that it is capable of¡±.

Sharon Witherspoon ¨C formerly director of the Nuffield Foundation ¨C was delivering the Campaign for Social Science Annual SAGE Lecture, titled ¡°Social science for public good: who benefits, who pays?¡± on 7 December.

Though she pointed to major achievements in terms of international citations and the infrastructure for longitudinal and ¡°big data¡± research, she saw ¡°little room for complacency¡±.

Read more: World University Rankings 2015-2016 results by subject - social sciences

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She was worried, for example, about the impact of data-protection legislation; areas such as child development where ¡°we simply have far less empirical research than I would argue we objectively need¡±; and possible changes to the research excellence framework leading to a ¡°system in which only journal articles [are] incentivised¡±.

One study, Ms Witherspoon pointed out, indicated that postgraduates were least satisfied with ¡°the amount of time they were called on to spend in quantitative methods training¡±. Yet when the same students were re-interviewed a couple of years later, ¡°their views had virtually reversed and a large number regretted that they had not done more work in this area¡±. If we want social scientists to develop stronger quantitative skills, she said, plans to incorporate student satisfaction measures into the teaching excellence framework present real dangers.

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When it came to funding for social science research, Ms Witherspoon presented data showing that income ¡°provided by research councils and UK government (who provide the lion¡¯s share of funding) reached its high point in 2008-09¡±, had declined in real terms by 25 per cent by 2012-13 and was probably lower still today.

She also pointed to ¡°a shortfall in the number of charities who support social science research¡± and reflected that ¡°there are too few funders of this kind of research¡±, given ¡°the benefit of having pluralism in funding sources, and competition between funders to drive up the quality of research¡±.

¡°The sign of a social science community¡­ delivering on all its potential,¡± Ms Witherspoon concluded, ¡°would be new funders¡­ called into being at the sight of all the ways that robust social science can give rise to public benefit. We should have the audacity to make that our aim.¡±

matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com