Food Standards Agency
Saturday 4 July 2009
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Listen to this siteSocial science has an increasingly important role to play in helping the Agency consider challenging and complex issues. The Agency has a strong history of using the natural sciences to underpin policy-making and in recent years we have begun to widen our evidence base by drawing on economics and operational research.
Many aspects of the Agency’s work, particularly with regard to dietary health, depend on societal factors. Increasing our access to the social sciences will enhance our evidence base and help us to develop, implement and assess the social impact of our advice and policies.
Social science research uses scientific enquiry to measure, describe, explain and predict changes in social and economic structures, attitudes, values and behaviours, and the factors that motivate and constrain individuals and groups in society. Social science research typically involves such methods as social surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews and case studies. The Agency already commissions regular consumer research on food issues to collect information about people’s attitudes and knowledge and some of the studies within our scientific research programmes also include a social science dimension.
As well as setting up a small in-house, team we have established an independent Social Science Research Committee to help strengthen the Agency's access to social science expertise and develop its capacity for social science research.
We commission an annual Consumer Survey of your attitudes toward food safety, standards, nutrition, diet and shopping. We also carry out a number of regular scientific surveys on the nutrient content of foods and the national diet.
In its broadest sense, social science is the study of society and the manner in which people behave and impact on the world around them. It includes many different disciplines that concentrate on particular aspects of society or human nature, for example sociology, psychology, anthropology, social geography and economics.
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