The influence of sociology on policy

• However, even when sociologists do conduct research into social problems, there is no guarantee that policy-makers will study their findings, or that any solutions they propose will find their way into social policies.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Electoral popularity: research findings and recommendations might point to a policy that would be unpopular with voters.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Ideological and policy preferences of governments: if the researcher's value-stance or perspective is similar to the political ideology of the government, they may stand more chance of influencing its policies.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Interest groups: these are pressure groups that seek to influence government policies in their own interests e.g. business groups may succeed in persuading government not to raise the minimum wage, even though this might reduce poverty.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Globalisation: social policy isn't just made by nation states in isolation. International organisations e.g. IMF may influence the social policies of individual governments. E.G. the IMF's 'structural adjustment programmes' have required less developed countries to introduce fees for education and health care as a condition for aid, despite evidence from social scientists that this makes development less likely.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Critical sociology: sociologists who are critical of the state and powerful groups, such as Marxists, may be regarded as too extreme, hostile or impractical and therefore unlikely to influence policy.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Cost: even if the government is sympathetic to the sociologist's findings, it may not have sufficient funds to implement an appropriate policy based on them, or it may have other sending priorities and commitments.
• Factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds:

  Funding sources: sociologists may tone down their findings and policy recommendations so as to fit in with their paymasters' wishes. Policymakers may recruit sociologists who share their assumptions and political values. The research findings may then be used to justify what the policymakers intended to do in the first place. 'Think tanks' or research institutes often have particular political sympathies.
• Social scientists' ideas sometimes become part of mainstream culture and influence the way people see social problems. This can affect the policies that governments produce.
• Bowlby: young children's relationship with their mother are crucial for normal development became widely accepted by many people. When this happens, it can influence the climate of opinion in favour of policies that reflect these social science-derived ideas.
• The power to define the problem:

  Sociological research is this only one possible element in shaping social policy. Ultimately, any policy is the result of a political decision by those in power.
• The power to define the problem:


  Often, those with power are the ones who are able to define what is and what is not a problem, and what if anything should be done about it.