Professor James Copestake and Dr Susan Johnson from our Department of Social & Policy Sciences and Dr Andrew Weyman from the Department of Psychology feature in this month’s Academy of Social Science Professional Briefing: The Impact of Social Science Research.

Their case studies were two of thirteen collected by the Academy to support the Campaign for Social Science and to be part of the case the Academy made in favour of Social Science to the Government’s Spending Review.

Professor Copestake and Dr Johnson’s case study – Improving the social performance of microfinance globally – assessed the evaluation tools and strategies that would be most cost-effective to microfinance institutions.

The case study of Dr Weyman and colleagues – Extending working life: Behaviour change interventions – looked at the best ways to encourage people to extend their working lives. A key finding of the study is that people are less likely to seek out choices than to respond to options presented to them.

To read the Professional Briefing in full visit the Academy of Social Science’s publication page.