Three-Part Webcast Series from the EPPI-Centre
November 19, 20, 21, 2013

The Center on KTDRR is working with a number of national and international partners, and we are pleased to count the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) among those partners. The EPPI-Centre is part of the Social Science Research Unit (SSRU) at the Institute of Education, University of London. Since 1993, the EPPI-Centre has been at the forefront of carrying out systematic reviews and developing review methods in social science and public policy. In 2012, several EPPI-Centre staff members authored An Introduction to Systematic Reviews (SAGE Publications Ltd).

Members of the EPPI-Centre staff presented a series of webcasts to describe the origins of the Centre and explore its focus on systematic reviews, increasing the use of research results, and how to use evidence to impact policymaking.

• EPPI Webcast #1: "The Work of the EPPI-Centre"
  Tuesday, November 19, 2013: 2 - 2:35 p.m. Central (3 - 3:35 p.m. Eastern)

  The first webcast in the series describes how the EPPI-Centre got started. Also discussed are some benefits and problems of evidence-based policy and various types of research reviews that policymakers find most useful.
  Presenters: Ann Oakley, PhD and David Gough, PhD

  ›› Webcast 1 - Presentation materials and additional information

  
  

• EPPI Webcast #2: "Research for Real Life Problems"
  Wednesday, November 20, 2013: 2 - 3:00 p.m. Central (3 - 4:00 p.m. Eastern)

  The second in the series of webcasts presented by staff from the EPPI-Centre focuses on why research results may not be used today, how to resolve the issue, and how to get more reliable and relevant research into use.
  Presenters: Sandy Oliver, PhD, and Rebecca Rees, MA, MSc

  ›› Webcast 2 - Presentation materials and additional information

  
  

• EPPI Webcast #3: "Undertaking Reviews for Policy"
  Thursday, November 21, 2013: 2 - 2:45 p.m. Central (3 - 3:45 p.m. Eastern)

  The third in this series of webcasts from the EPPI-Centre examines motivating policymakers to use research, the types of reviews are most useful in the policy arena, the impact of time constraints, and strategies for policy-focused reviews when the research is thin.
  Presenters: James Thomas, PhD, and Katy Sutcliffe, PhD

  ›› Webcast 3 - Presentation materials and additional information

About the Presenters

David Gough, BSc, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, FHEA, is Professor of Evidence Informed Policy and Practice, and the current Director of the Social Science Research Unit and the EPPI-Centre. He is active with the Evidence Informed Policy and Practice in Education in Europe (EIPPEE) and is a Partner in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) National Coordinating Centre in Social Care and NICE Research Support Unit. His current research interests include systematic reviews, methods for research synthesis, meta-evaluation, knowledge production and use, research on research use, and research and citizenship.

Ann Oakley, BA, MA, PhD, DLitt (Hon), DSc (Hon), AcSS, is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the Institute of Education, and until January 2005 was Founding Director of the Social Science Research Unit, where she also established the EPPI-Centre. She holds an honorary appointment as a Fellow at Somerville College in Oxford. In 2011 the British Sociological Association gave her one of their first Lifetime Achievement Awards for her extraordinary contribution to the history of the development of sociology in Britain. She now works on research part-time; her main interests are gender, health, methodology and evidence-informed public policy.

Sandy Oliver, BA, PhD, FHEA is Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Childhood, Families and Health and serves as Deputy Director of SSRU and the EPPI-Centre. Her special interest involves making knowledge more democratic, through public involvement in doing and using research, and synthesizing and sharing research literature. Ten years as an advocate of maternity service users was followed by an academic career developing systems to support public involvement in research and policy, nationally and internationally. Professor Oliver is an editor for the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group.

Rebecca Rees, MA, MSc, FHEA is Senior lecturer in Evidence Informed Policy and Practice in the Department of Childhood, Families and Health. Ms. Rees is also Associate Director of the EPPI-Centre. Her background is in social research methods and research in education, public health and complementary medicine. Research interests include the synthesis of diverse types of research, especially studies of people's views on or experiences of social phenomena; research ethics and the active participation of stakeholders in research; the production and use of evidence in diverse fields, including education, public health and health promotion; the use of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning.

Katy Sutcliffe, BA (Hons), MSc, PhD, is a research officer and member of the Faculty of Children and Learning, Department of Childhood, Families and Health. She also works with the EPPI-Centre. Dr Sutcliffe joined SSRU in 2002 after completing a master's degree in social research methods. Her research interests include: Systematic research synthesis; Evidence-informed policy and practice; Synthesizing qualitative views research; Children with chronic conditions; and Children's participation in health-care decision-making.

James Thomas, MA, MMus, GGSM, PhD is Professor of Social Research and Policy in the Department of Childhood, Families and Health. He is Director of the EPPI-Centre's Reviews Facility for the Department of Health, England, which undertakes systematic reviews across a range of policy areas to support the department. His research interests include Systematic reviewing; Methods for research synthesis and research more broadly; The use of new information technologies in social research; Evidence informed policy and practice; Health promotion and public health. He specializes in developing methods for research synthesis, in particular for qualitative and mixed methods reviews and in using emerging information technologies such as text mining in research. He leads a module on synthesis and critical appraisal on the EPPI-Centre's MSc in Research for Public Policy and Practice and development on the Centre's in-house reviewing software, EPPI-Reviewer. Professor Thomas is also Co-Assistant Director for Health and Wellbeing at the Institute of Education.